Ardmore

Traditional Cask

Comment by

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Johannes Sauer

App.: Amber (colouring added)
Nose: A very malty nose seems to announce a promising dram: Whalenuts and orange peel are the first impression. Later there are raisins and soft floral notes combined with lingering smoke. Porridge with marmalade. Everything here is backed by firm, round and gripping malt.
Taste: The smoke steps more in the foreground, peat is very harmoniouisly blended with oakwood and malt. The fruity impression is nearly lost on the palate but gives place to soft, bitter cocoa powder. The 46% are always very discretly hidden in the back and not at all intruding.
Finish: This is the only soft disapointment after a very good start on nose and mouth: Rather short but soft, bitter and dry.
Conc.: This seems to be a very good companion stay with for a long ! and gregarious night.

Color: gold
Discrete and fresh nose and (traditional praline ice with small pieces). It takes time to open. I feel that something is hidden behind aeration, but it's too quiet for now. After aeration (finally it opened quickly) the smell of coffee are present with a texture becomes more waxy (clay Play-Doh well warmed in hand (hmm, those memories ...)) and discretely fruity.
I appreciate!

Mouth slightly sparkling in attack. Rather fluid and fresh. A different approach in terms of flavor because it seems to be more "baking" with a taste of brioche. Not galette des rois Brioche with pieces of candied angelica. And for that matter, why not add a taste of yeast. While delicacy by cons. It is melted and enjoyable. A clear taste of cereals is noticeable in the mid-palate with a reminder of the clay nose.

Final in the same tone as the mouth brioche. Unfortunately, it lacks biting persistence. Hum? A bit of dry peat at the end of course? It looks like so ...

Comment: The nose, delicate and well balanced, direct me back to childhood with the smell of dough (I keep smelling this nearly empty sample ))! Too bad it lacks a little punch. But honestly, I can not blame him because of the memories that it sends me back:) The mouth remains as enjoyable as the nose. More expressive, it also is more greedy than the latter. But the final makes me decrease the note ... Too bad I can not find it as good as the rest .... I think with a few% more, the whisky would have taken a good 90 ... Ore even more. Very nice whisky in any case!

Color: Gold
Nose: Very nice nose on discrete peat nicely mixed with citrus and marine notes.
Some notes of vanilla and pepper in the background.
Palate: The peat is present in the mouth, less balanced.
Attack on the cold ashes, then it becomes more fruity and sweet.
Then moving on spices.
Finish: Long a nice mix of peat / fruit

Colour: Gold.
Nose: Peaty to very peaty, slightly farmy, rather subtle, maritime, on hemp rope and slightly vanilla notes. Very pleasant without the harshness or dryness usually associated with peated whiskies.
Taste: Rich, peaty, salty, maritime, on iodine, some disinfectant, seaweeds and tobacco, with a pleasant oakiness. Pleasantly balanced, with slight fishy notes. The finish is medium to long, peaty, maritime, slightly salty, rather round and mellow, oaky, on vanilla, seaweeds, some iodine and liquorice root.
Impression: A very Islay-like profile with the nice rich and complex peaty notes associated with sea brine and other maritime influence. The mellowness offers a soft delivery of the peat and generates a most pleasant balance to this whisky.

Color: bright yellow

Fresh nose with a hint of iodine. The aromas are floral and very elegant. Alcohol is well controlled. Everything is very pleasant and well balanced.

The palate has a slightly oily texture with hints of licorice (Cachou Lajaunie). Alcohol is present without being intrusive. The balance is retained. The retro-olfaction is with notes of white chocolate.

The finish is smooth. Again the balance alcohol flavor lasts. This is a very attractive whisky.

Color: Dark straw
Nose: Peat, vanilla lightly citrus notes.
Taste: Smooth velvety taste of peat and vanilla, warm aromas of yellow fruits like peach and banana.
Finish: medium long and mouthwatering with a sweet tingeling and a hint of cinnamon

Nose: very smooth approach, acacia honey, peat, wood fire. Not the least aggressivity in this dram, all in reserve. With aeration, I perceive as a floral touch.
Taste: Very expressive. The first moments, it is first sweet ... but very quickly the smoke takes over, rather medicinal! Ash in the background with a little apple and lemon.
Finish: Long, with an abundance of smoke and slightly citric. Remarkable!
Overall impression: The nose is a little behind but the mouth is very Ileach although a bit "close" (lacking a bit of consistency). Whiskey rising crescendo. It reminds me of a distillery such as Lagavulin, and even Laphroaig ...

N: beautiful elegant floral early linseed oil marzipan nice long and accurate
B: long and powerful floral anise
F: Long pretty accurate

Color: Gold.

Nose: Rather powerful. Is declined on the ripe fruit (apples, pears), cooked in butter - lightly salted - with a little lemon zest. It is as much at sea (the opening help on fish, algae). A noses of both marine and sweet pastry effective and has a good density.
With water pastry character takes precedence, with notes of hazelnut and praline extra.

Mouth: Strong alcohol (after dilution), the malt is present and is allied with the pastry fruit (pear tart). Spices make all a little bitter - nutmeg, pepper -. The water changes little to profile.

Final: revival of smoked malt sprinkled with milk chocolate and marzipan. Parsimonious addition of nougat is there to cement the sweet couple. The finish is rather short compared to the expectations.

In short: A beautiful nose that deserves to be left open. Its maritime and greedy propensities are intriguing. The mouth is a powerful pn alcohol (too much) but the profile is not without interest. The finish is cons below with respect to its length.

Colour : Gold

Nose : We start with some floral notes, creamy honey. We continue with apple whiffs (apple liquor), vanilla (custard). Some pear as well, sweet almonds. Pretty round, very well integrated alcohol.

Mouth : We find the same roundness, with a small aftertaste of smoke or grilled almonds. Still custard, with this nice taste of vanilla. In the middle, a little sour taste undermines a little the pleasure. It remains attractive, even if it's a little plain.
After a few minutes, becomes somehow a bit herbaceous.

Finale : Medium, sweet, on grilled almonds.

Conclusion : A nice dram, a little too classic, but flawless. Not very original though.

Nose: Powerful on orchard fruit, earthy peat, damp earth, garden vegetables, lemon, orange and dried fruits. Nice balance.
After aeration, it is quiet and the peat is less present in favor of lemon / orange and a mineral note.

Taste: lemon, sweet, sticky, slightly maritime and mineral. Notes of cereal and applesauce.

Finale: The note of damp earth come back again with the lemon in the background. Also notes stewed until the spices prevail and do take precedence over the rest.

Comments: Whisky pleasant to drink but unfortunately not in the style that I like. This is lightly peated with plenty of lemon and earthy notes (wet and greasy, the earth). I would have appreciated more peat and / or fruit. Maybe bottled too young?
Aeration brings up too many high notes of pepper and cinnamon on the finish and water brings out the smoky side.

Appearance: Yellow gold
Nose: Medium intensity, alcohol present but not disturbing, marine freshness, flavored black tea, grainy softness, light fruity like jellies
Mouth: Low to medium intensity, well integrated alcohol, dry mouth, soft bitter (skin nuts or tea brewed too long, cereals and soft pepper in the finish
Finish: Medium
With water: Nose and mouth losing intensity without gaining in complexity
Conclusion: I like the nose better than the mouth that lack of balance in my opinion

The first nose is malty, with low acidity, wood, and a marine character. With aeration it operates on the pine, toasted cereal, traces of honey, dried apricot, coffee. I also found some red currant jam. The acidity is confirmed, nicely balanced by the mango. The first approach is fun and intriguing. On the palate is soft and sweet and then switch quickly to the bitterness. Hints of mint and tar blend. And the bitterness is expressed in all its forms: walnut, licorice, tannins ... The finish is first on a specific licorice with caramel. A distant fruitiness does not mask a burning sensation, burning of the pepper unfortunately without the taste.
A whisky that I would call interesting but of no fun, despite my attraction to pronounced bitterness.

Nose = First (too) light, fresh and pastry-like. Mineral. Lack of expressiveness.
Mouth: sweet and moving on a slight bitterness. Very aromatic.
The final not more present than the mouth.
conclusion
This WDTS is quite disturbing because (too) uniform by the lack of expression of the majority of participants. This sample has no default, but provides no specific pleasure.

Nose: peat at the beginning that fades quickly, peach, wood, shortbread, caramel.
Mouth: powerful fruit, a little bit of wood.
Final: average

Colour: Straw yellow, white wine.
Nose: Nose first sour and alcohol, malty, then almost nothing. Restarts on herbaceous notes, old dried hay, plant, vetiver, notes cheese or farmer rather discreet in the background. The impression of alcohol eventually fade after a few minutes, but the nose is very strange. In previous notes have been added the praline, cream dessert with pistachio, the financier, white bread. All this makes a rather confusing mixture, though not unpleasant
Mouth: creamy, sweet, progressive, peat, a kind of bitter sweet (chicory?)
Final: In the wake of the mouth

Comments: Quite a strange whisky, which is expressed on unusual notes , although not unpleasant to the nose. The mouth and the final are, against, very much less interesting. The addition of water off the nose, softened mouth even more and enhances the bitterness in the final.

Color: Medium gold.

Nose: Quite phenolic and quite decent. This one was probably drawn from a Bourbon cask, and significantly reduced (43%?). It starts on light peat and quickly develops on soft notes of mashed plantain, orange juice, and an exotic touch (hint of guava?). Careful: Some fruit there is, but in homeopathic doses. Don’t expect a huge exotic blast! Unfolds on fresh putty, not unlike some Caol Ilas middle-age bottlings.

Mouth: The peat is subtle and delicately fruity (orange toffee), sweet and “easy” but never weak. Good mouthfeel despite the reduction. A little touch of violet in the mid-palate. An additional drop of water enhances fruity aromas ala Ardmore.

Finish: Turns to charcoal and ends rather bitter.

Comment: A rather delicate and fruity peaty malt. Pleasant, even if it won’t be enough for me to go up the wall.

Colour: Old gold
The nose is clearly marked by peat. It is relatively austere at first and then appear quite discrete notes of vanilla and a hint of ripe fruit.
Peat is also present in the mouth, feeling of milk chocolate. A bit monolithic. Evolves relatively slowly to bitter notes
The finish is initially quite powerful, strangely dominated by a kind of acid peat (although the feeling was definitely not present in the mouth). But it vanishes relatively quickly and is of medium length.

Nose: first impression mixed. Hints of peat mixed with weird smell: something between a baby's scent, blazed bananas, solvent, cornflakes, a scented candle, old dried flowers ... In the second test, I find this a much more peat with notes of licorice and "cachou", mixed with coated pill & candy. A touch of lemon too. Strange notes not far, unfortunately... Better but still not good.
Mouth: very poor, with an attack on "the scented soap in a pool of water on the soap dish". Sickly sweet with strange notes found on the nose, bordering on rude. Ends with the peat. At the second session, it's a more assertive peat, but remembering some rather bitter tea brewed too. But I still find these unpleasant flavors mid-palate ...
Finale: It's better, more traditional (smoke & spice)
Conclusion: an experiment gone bad? A profile I do not like? Some elements that remind me of the Ardmore one in the previous WDTS session ... The second attempt was better without being converted.

The nose is dominated by pastry flavors. Fairly light and without much relief, we can feel amid the dominant spice which will tend to disappear, rubber and paper pulp. A slight peat? Anyway, it's pretty austere and linear. Aeration allows the appearance of citrus (oranges at first, then lemon), sugar and very light vanilla, it is true not helped by the collapse of the nose due to good ventilation.

The palate is nice, on very greedy chocolate liquor. Subsequently, it has yeast, cereal and paper pulp. The set is very soft and very austere. Alcohol is also present. After aeration, it has also a little smoke. But all is through.

The medium length final, is dominated by yeast and light pastry flavors. It also has fruit and spices.

In conclusion, a whisky too sweet and austere for my taste.

Ardmore

Un-chillfiltered collection 1990

Ardmore

Un-chillfiltered Collection 1992

Ardmore

Signatory Vintage 1977

Ardmore

Scott's Selection 1977

Ardmore

Gordon & MacPhail 1991 Reserve

Ardmore

Whisky Magazine 1990

Ardmore

Chieftain's limited edition, Barrel C#4992/4994

Ardmore

Single Malts of Scotland, 12 years

Ardmore

Gordon & MacPhail 1993 Reserve

Ardmore

The ultimate single malt collection 1983

Ardmore

1992-2010

Ardmore

Daily Dram Ardmore 18 yo

Color: old gold
Nose: vanilla and honey, fruity scents of banana and a woody sweetness.
Taste: Fresh, notes of peanut and new oak, light fruitiness of pineapple and raisins.
Finish: Vanilla with oak and again raisins, very delicate freshness and hints of a good tawny port minus the sweetness

Colour: Gold-old gold.
Nose: Starchy, floral, rather grassy, malty, on pollen and some honey. Rather round.
Taste: Oily, creamy, grassy, with a light maltiness, some floral smoky notes, rather big and with a light fragrance. Complex. Diluted, it becomes even more complex, with some light fruity notes of the orchards. The finish is medium, grassy, with a touch of honey, some floral and smoky notes, and a slight bitterness.
Impression: This might not be everyone’s tipple, but I really enjoyed this complex, rather big, grassy and lightly peated whisky that certainly comes from a very old distillery in the so-called Eastern Highlands region. A very good dram.

Nose: oil, ripe pear, syrup, nuts. Very melted.
After aeration: Citrus and wax.

Taste: Oily, lemon, sugar, fruits, spices.
After aeration: Waxy.

Finale: Fat peat, motor oil, wet earth, blood orange marmalade, spices. Nice and long.
After aeration: Almost no peat, vanilla, very long, waxy. Much better balance.

Comments: A fairly oily whisky and whose peaty side disappears with aeration. It then takes a waxy side. Pleasant but lacks a little something.

Nose: Very fresh, clean. Very marin with pronounced notes of oyster shells. It smells like hot sand ... We can distinguish a few notes of almonds and hazelnuts.
Palate: Full bodied, the attack is lightly salted with vanilla fudge, and then come to my taste, in proportion, with pink grapefruit in the background a little ginger. I love!
Finish: Quite long, both acidic and very salty.
Overall impression: A flavor profile which suits me. Again, I think collecting maritime influences of a coastal distillery Bruichladdich could be or Pulteney.

Nose: pastry, pie, cinnamon, vanilla, apricots. Remember a pastry that I used to eat as a kid but I cannot come to the name. Cakes with pineapple? Apricot pie? Tartlet with strawberry jam?
Mouth of lower quality than the nose. Fruity.
Final: on cinnamon

Color: Gold
Nose: salty seaweed and marked by aromas of apricot.
The palate is fresh, minty. The aromas are like the nose marked by the fruits of the orchard, this time peach.
The finish is peppery.

This whisky has a good balance but lacks a little power to make speak a nonetheless appealing pepper.

The first nose is woody and mineral. It calms down quickly, but by acquiring images of moorland. All is well built and developed on the vegetal: grass, fresh herbs, pine, spices with cumin and cloves first, and gingerbread. Really fun. The mouth presents a clear and precise attack. First the mineral (chalk, ash), and the heath (heather, light humus, Scotch broom), and then the sour grapes and fresh curd. The finish of medium length, has a nice bitterness, nuts, fresh almonds and other nuts as well as spices and a little mint.
A very pleasant expression with a nice bitterness in the background.

Color: Gold

Nose: very soft and round, with a buttery presence of a vegetation smoke ,some farmy hints. Rather monolithic at first. Autumn fruit basket and a presence behind citrus with hints of chocolate. The milk caramel then takes it - sweets -. There are also menthol and pepper.
With aeration, cocoa is dominating leaving in addition fresh pear lying on a bed of straw.

Palate: The palate starts is the chocolate malt and caramel before coming being jostled by the pure cocoa gives a hint of bitterness.

Final: milk chocolate, hazelnut are combined with the wet grass and a hint of cassis. Balanced with hints peaty lightly salted. Of medium length.

In short: A really charming nose, going to the pastry confectionery. The Christmas aspect extends to the mouth in a nice balance, a beautiful integration of alcohol. Too bad it lacks complexity. The finish deserved a little long. Finally, a good whiskey that has mastered a seductive nose. Its lack of complexity is partly offset by the accuracy of its aromas.

Colour : Gold

Nose : We start with notes of almond paste and peat. A little smoke, cold ashes. It's very round and nice. Crystallized lemon. Some white wine. Lemon and ashes take over quite rapidly. Some liquorice. A slight hint of "herbes de Provence" and chemical candy. Vanilla. The round side faints quite quickly and gives way to some austerity.

Mouth : We remain on roasted almonds, but with a beautiful ash taste in addition, which comes to coat the whole thing. Superb.
Pretty well integrated alcohol. Notes of white wine, cold ash, smoke. The whole thing is quite lemony.

Finale : Long, on ash and roasted almonds.

Conclusion : A sweet and peated piece of candy. Not very complex, it goes down quite quickly, but very good for a winter evening.

Appearance: Yellow gold
Nose: Low to medium intensity, well integrated alcohol, dusty, alcoholic freshness, fruity (ripe fruits), malty, black tea, slight vegetables
Mouth: Low intensity, alcohol well integrated, as the nose the mouth has lots of flavours but without beeing aggregate
Finish: Short to medium
With water: Nose and mouth lose in intensity, the mouth loses in complexity but becomes more consistent on fruity flavours
Conclusion: A complex whisky but without beeing able to charm me, especially because of the lack of harmony and intensity

Colour: pale gold
Nose: Quite pastry, almond paste, some spices and notes of cereal.
In the second nose, the sherry on the nuts and spices is more present and notes of brandy, pear or plum.
Palate: The palate is more fruity than the nose on yellow fruits and citrus.
Then a few notes of nuts appear, and the almond paste.
Final: Medium and slightly bitter.

Nose: Cereal + Pastry with notes of iodine / marine background. Indolent. Balanced but confused.
Palate: delicate on a certain bitterness and evolution on the cereal malt. ... Too evanescent. A little pear? Probably too small anyway.
Final short and slightly bitter.
conclusion
It lets himself drink (easily), but not much feeling side.

The nose is first marked by nice, fruity acidity (apple), with a light wax and a little mango. It's fresh and inviting all at once. Over time, the nose becomes stronger and woody. It has honey, dry sherry, wood, paper pulp and a little peat. The set is suitable, even if it lacks a little complexity and power.

The mouth opens on exotic fruits. Smoothly it then shows flavors of apple, then wax, and milk chocolate. Everything is a little messy and lacks of power, that ventilation does not settle, even if the are emerging hints of wood and plants, which make it a little more austere and as difficult as ever to identify.

The final short, is dominated by the apple, with a little pepper and yellow fruits after aeration.

In conclusion, a whisky that has no flaw but lacks complexity and personality.

Colour: Straw yellow, white wine.
Nose: nose first hard to describe, vegetable soup, perhaps? Grilled pie dough, cabbage, white bread, margarine, slightly white vinegar.
Taste: oily, but does not express much.
Final: an extension of the mouth, a little more expressive, with notes of nuts, margarine.

Comment: Not much to say but not much to complain about. The addition of water does not change much.

Color: Gold
The nose, slightly farmy seems marked by notes of yeast. It's not particularly the kind of profile I like. Hints of peat and a distant hint of fruit.
Mouth contrasts with the nose. No more those unpleasant notes of yeast. The mouth is well balanced, with hints of mocha mixed with granola, and relatively low complexity. Nice though.
The finish is long and pleasantly marked by notes of milk chocolate.

Nose: Strange. The first nose burned on plastic and cellophane. Fortunately, the peat comes, with a leather salty, hints of heather, citrus and bitter lemon and some spices too. Background on the topic apple-grain. With aeration, notes fade quickly but not completely.
Mouth: very bland, seemingly very diluted. We find the impression of scorched tire, diluted in water. Some cereal, some fruit (banana?). A little spicy. Best in the finish with the late arrival of peat and smoke. But how flat it is !
Final: on peat and wood. But short ...
Conclusion: Lack of relief, harmful flavors ... Could do better.

Color: Pale gold.

Nose: Fourth phenolic of the set, and at first nose, it doesn’t seem to be the most interesting one… A mix of phenols and grain. A peaty malt from the fields, with lots of crushed and soaked cereals, and notes geranium. And also a bit of dust from an old barn.

Mouth: Really light. Huge reduction on the horizon. A silky mouthfeel, but apart from diluted phenols and a hint of honey, it significantly lacks of flavors and punch. A hint of lemon, perhaps?

Finish: Phenols help it to last a bit, with notes of dust and the bitterness of a stale beer.

Comment: A young malt that plays the card of delicate phenols, but doesn’t achieve in avoiding the defaults of youth. Sophisticated or weak? I’ve chosen my side…

Colour: intense golden
Strange nose. Somewhat animal, organic. the smell of "coffee liégeois"? Smells of hot caramel are evident. With this, a little background of peat and ash. Then the aeration, there is very little over ... Some indescribable flavor, perhaps?
Palate: medium hot and spicy woody. For the moment there is not much apart from a distant bitterness.
Finale of time. More pungent than the mouth. But still a shocking lack of flavor.

Comment: .. Not much to say in conclusion. I did not like. I felt nothing.
Several possibilities. Or whisky is really bad, or my sample was a concern .. Or my taste. In any case, the second sample for this and my conclusions are the same.

Ardmore

1992, Liquid Sun. Heavily peated

appearance: Riesling
nose: Medium to strong intensity, well-integrated alcohol, cheese (Camembert, Munster) (it's very nice for those who, like me, like that kind of cheese), sea air, medicinal (antiseptic), farmer (straw in barn) smoke and peat in the background
Taste: Medium to strong intensity, smoke and dry peat dominate but they leave place for the farmers, sailors and antiseptic aromas. Exactly the opposite of the nose
finish: average
With water: Slightly less intense on the nose and the palate, a little bitterness in the mouth, I like less with water
conclusion: An interesting and well balanced whisky .It takes time to articulate. I really like.

Colour: Straw.
Nose: Phenolic and fuity. A mix of dust, cold ashes, and lemon sweet (Haribo crocodiles, the yellow ones). And quite some alcohol, but well mastered. Then, turns more complex, becoming really interesting now. Some dirty and farmy notes ala Brora (stable, horse dung, argan oil) mingle with some nice soft and discreet hints of fudge that could come from a refill butt. Rustic veggies (all kind of tubers). Chestnut.
Mouth: Starts sweet and creamy, with nearly no peat at that point. Then, the peat develops with some balm aromas. The alcohol grows bigger (probably over 55%), but never bites. Then we go on with some green lemon peel that makes it tastier.
Finish: Long, getting slightly rooty and with a hint of anise.
Comment: A beautiful old style peaty farmy malt that requires your attention or you may let it pass you by.

Sweet on the nose, sea influence (fish), slightly smoked wood. Good !
In mouth, great balance, nice and precise smoke aroma, smoked fish. A lack of complexity but really good and highly drinkable !
Islay not high in alcohol level, 20yo or more ?

Colour: straw yellow
Nose: Attack on a medicinal peat, citrus, pepper, spices and marzipan.
With a little water, it becomes less peaty and fruity / spicy / floral.
Palate: An original blend of rubber, peat and fruit.
A little chocolate in the background.
With a little water, rubber disappears, peat becomes very quiet and fruits and spices are reinforced.
Long finish on peat and chocolate.
Whisky A very original and successful.

Straw color.
First fruity nose. Candy with pear and apple. Sweet fruit syrup. Light smoke in the background.
Second nose less exuberant. The smoke is no longer present.
The palate is soft on the peat and fruit (fruit orchard and a little exotic fruits).
Final moderately long, moderately intense smoke and fruit. The alcohol is slightly felt.

Nose: not too intense but quite complex. Marin and imperceptibly smoked at first nosing. A little spicy. Light peat is a gradually appearing. Candied lemon. Oat cake. Green apple and peppermint. Medicinal.
Palate: oily, very sweet and fresh and fruity (candied lemon). That same hyper discreet Peat like at the nose. Very nice. A bit of licorice. Sweet / salty.
Finish: medium long and in line with the mouth, the fresh minty nose to boot. Old leather retro-olfaction.

Still not a fan of peat at the moment, but I confess to have taken a certain pleasure this time. Nice balance, some complexity, not bad!

Color: light yellow
Nose with a hint of smoke a nice fresh seaweed. Great finesse. Very nice. Very strong impression of Manzana (green apple).
The palate is oily, almost chewable. This causes a small loss of sharpness and the disappearance of the smoke. La manzana is strongly present, but the green apple becomes compote. The texture is consistent and frieze some softness.
The finish is medium length. It returns to the freshness. Whisky found the tone with spicy alcohol. The smoke is back.
Without that feeling of softness in the middle palate that would be a good whiskey. All is however very nice and cozy.

The nose opens with a strange feeling of play-dough, followed by paint and citrus. It's a bit strong. There’s also a little of salt and wax. It’s rather heterogeneous in fact. Aeration put all in order, where a beautiful dominant wood dust, reminiscent of a sawmill, accented with spicy aromas and medicinal (ether) is being set up. All this becomes appropriate, before ventilation continues its work, mixing the dominant peaks of peat and cereal. The water makes it softer, and reveals notes of heady flowers.

Mouth, slightly watery at first, is of farm and grain, with a little citrus. We must wait a little before this whisky reveals its true potential and put forward powerful farm moist and rustic grades, without being intrusive. It is well controlled. It also has milk chocolate in attack, but also a hint of minerality on the finish. Water highlights the red fruit on the attack.

The final average is the scene of a beautiful farm alliance between the notes of the mouth and the smoke of barbecue. Aeration allows subtle notes of mineral and vegetal to appear, leaving a sensation of moisture. We keep a memory of strange bitterness.

In conclusion, an interesting whisky, with with farming notes at their best. I like it.

Colour: Straw
Nose: Special, but interesting, it has aromas of well-refined volume of sheep cheese mixed with a thoroughly nice peat smoke. A slightly fruity touch (pear, apple) completes the rustic but tasteful whole. Still as pleasant during the second tasting.
Palate: The alcohol is well integrated. The palate is fat, salted, smoked, with farmy notes in the continuity of the nose. It also has a slight fruity (pear again). No notable changes between the two tastings.
Finish: Quite long, but mostly not too peaty smoke, always with the notes of Tomme of ewe.
Conclusion: A malt probably young but well done. Peat seemed rather continental, for what that means.

The nose reveals a peaty malt. Some peat, and its procession of smoke, herbs, leather, pepper, tar. I find a little violet or cherry also. The peat comes along with cereal notes, with fruits (apple, plum?) and of fine iodized and mineral notes (wet rock). The whole is rather exciting, and the fruity, bringing freshness, comes to balance the peat, which finally makes rather discreet.
With aeration, emanations of yeast were very odd.
In mouth, it is finally the fruit which stands out, on the plum, and also flowers (violet? Geranium?), everything which reminds me a brandy. Then declines the peat, light, the leather and the salt, the pepper and the smoke, to finish more wisely on the dry wood, the coffee with milk and the rock. Very pleasant.
Either a little peated whisky, or a young peaty ? The mouth pleased a lot me, with a beautiful evolution, in spite of accents of young whiskey, not so disagreeable in the end. Just a little age in more to make a great one ?

Nose: Start soft fresh and fruity (yellow). Touches of haystack then soft peat. Salty and malty.
Mouth: Soft peat, yellow and tropical fruits, sea air. Enjoyable and fresh.
The final is all the same.

Color: Straw coloured
Nose: Iodine, Scent of sea
Mouth: Salty, Sea Shell, Smoky after dilution, hint of lemon
Final: Lighty peated

Color: Gold
The nose is quite complex, made of bitter tea and rather austere fruity notes. somewhat difficult to define but intriguing and enjoyable smell floats in the background. Some gentian air. This whisky seems to play a very special record. Notes of cut grass appear after aeration.
The mouth is first rather bitter, gentian impression of the nose seems to be developing here. Relatively complex, it mixes the bitter notes with fresher scent of dried cut grass
The finish is discreet at first and then rises slightly more powerful, still on that freshness-bitterness duality. A taste of honey candy seems to appear after a few moments.

Colour: straw.
Nose: Fairly quiet, first floral, then the presence of alcohol masks somewhat the aromas of flowers, apple, anise with a very slight hint of smoke.
Taste: Warming, acid drops flavored red fruit and herbaceous notes of geranium and orange zest.
Finish: Quite long, dry, rather bitter (notes of coffee).
Overall impression: The palate is more expressive than the nose. Makes me think more about a young malt from the Lowlands might be particularly enjoy the semi-summer periods ...

Color : pale gold
Nose : We start with nice notes of lemon, smoke and peat. Some charcoal, confit pineapple. Very nice nose, sugary but well-balanced. Some liquorice, but light.
Mouth : It's weak. It feels like chewing on a stick of liquorice. Some smoke and lemon (very diluted). It's quite indistinct. It's woody and aqueous.
Finale : medium, on bitterness and smoke.
Conclusion : The nose is interesting, slightly acid, sugary and smoky. The mouth doesn't not get there, very bitter, on liquorice.

Color: white wine
Nose quite warm at first. Very fruity and thereafter. In the register of perfectly ripe sweet pear. Perhaps the smell of sweet popcorn just hot. Too bad it is not more rich and expressive. After a while covered, I do not have very good news. It smells it is pushing sorry, dirty socks. It's not all that terrible! And fortunately, this smell is volatile! Much further, I feel a touch of the exotic behind for my taste very bland surroundings. But it so far away that it is difficult to put a name and give an accurate sense ...
Fluid and soft palate. Maybe very slightly ashy in attack. It becomes more sweet, pungent and resinous thereafter.
Final particularly flat and length more than medium.

Comment: I have not hooked up with this sample. It could have been done well, but his lack of richness and balance on the note that breaks the figure. It is a whisky that I have not finished.

Color: White wine
Nose: Alcohol very present. Some Citrus ... Some cereals. Dilution does not change anything.
Mouth: alcohol still present. Always accompanied by a slight grain bitterness. The dilution reduces the bitterness but does nothing else.
Final average with some grain.

Colour: Yellowish, clear apple juice, nice and oily.
Nose: In the beginning a bit biting and spritty. Later nice nifty peat (old leather armchairs) combined with citrus peel. Pleasant but lacking of complexity.
Taste: Very pungent in the beginning, strong alcohol (cask strength), some water is needed. With water still a bit overwhelming, strong smoke, but also disturbing subnotes like old bread and rusty metal. Unripe fruits. Seems to be very young to me.
Finish: Also metallic, medium long and not that pleasant. A bit too much on the sour side.
Guesswork: My guess is a young Islay malt, bottled independently from the cask.
Rating: 64
Date: 29 July 2011

Colour: Pale, white wine.
Nose: nose 1st acid, vinegar, of course, pungent. Notes of rotting stench of garbage. Then through grassy notes. Occasionally, a burst of delicious jammy fruit happens to be drilled to vanish soon. Bitterness. And always the bad smell of landfill that spoil everything and will even mention the slurry.
Water harmonizes the nose, but without actually removing unpleasant notes. However, beautiful floral and fruity notes finally expressed as to succeed in cleansing the nose. But not enough to completely remove odors.
Taste: Very (too?) Fat, a lot of material. There are notes on the nose perceived, unpleasant like eating in a garbage can.
Water harmonizes the mouth but we feel that he would not take much to pass the threshold of surdilution. Again, more harmony, but without achieving a pleasing result.
Finale: On the same note as the mouth and nose, it becomes astringent over time.
Water reveals a kind of bitterness and metallic mineral. A lot of smoke astringent after a few minutes.

Comment: I've been drinking bad whisky, but it was undeniable that they were whiskys. Here I do not know what I had in my glass. I just hope it was not garbage juice. Without doubt one of the worst alcohol of any type I have ever tasted. And unfortunately, the water really does not save him.

Ardmore

Bourbon Hogshead 1992

Color: Gold
The nose is first rather discrete and evolves slowly toward fruity notes mixed with hints of minerals. Honey but also flowers, some fruit, the nose is quite elusive and therefore difficult to describe with precision. One thing is certain: it is pleasant.
The mouth is first very smooth, but soon displayed such mineral notes already present in the nose, and a mixture of earth, fruit and wood give it a nice complexity. Nice mouth, even if we would have preferred to see the fruits outweigh minerality.
The finish prolongs the mouth and is long and hot. Here too, the earthy outweigh the fruity richness guessed at the beginning of mouth.

Ardmore

100th Anniversary

N: light peat butter vanilla and licorice quince peach
B: fine and well-balanced vanilla nutmeg liquorice beautiful
F: Long live peat

Whisky beautifully balanced which explains the high rating

Color: old gold
Nose: vanilla and honey, fruity scents of banana and a woody sweetness.
Taste: Fresh, notes of peanut and new oak, light fruitiness of pineapple and raisins.
Finish: Vanilla with oak and again raisins, very delicate freshness and hints of a good tawny port minus the sweetness

Colour: Gold-old gold.
Nose: Starchy, floral, rather grassy, malty, on pollen and some honey. Rather round.
Taste: Oily, creamy, grassy, with a light maltiness, some floral smoky notes, rather big and with a light fragrance. Complex. Diluted, it becomes even more complex, with some light fruity notes of the orchards. The finish is medium, grassy, with a touch of honey, some floral and smoky notes, and a slight bitterness.
Impression: This might not be everyone’s tipple, but I really enjoyed this complex, rather big, grassy and lightly peated whisky that certainly comes from a very old distillery in the so-called Eastern Highlands region. A very good dram.

Nose: oil, ripe pear, syrup, nuts. Very melted.
After aeration: Citrus and wax.

Taste: Oily, lemon, sugar, fruits, spices.
After aeration: Waxy.

Finale: Fat peat, motor oil, wet earth, blood orange marmalade, spices. Nice and long.
After aeration: Almost no peat, vanilla, very long, waxy. Much better balance.

Comments: A fairly oily whisky and whose peaty side disappears with aeration. It then takes a waxy side. Pleasant but lacks a little something.

Nose: Very fresh, clean. Very marin with pronounced notes of oyster shells. It smells like hot sand ... We can distinguish a few notes of almonds and hazelnuts.
Palate: Full bodied, the attack is lightly salted with vanilla fudge, and then come to my taste, in proportion, with pink grapefruit in the background a little ginger. I love!
Finish: Quite long, both acidic and very salty.
Overall impression: A flavor profile which suits me. Again, I think collecting maritime influences of a coastal distillery Bruichladdich could be or Pulteney.

Nose: pastry, pie, cinnamon, vanilla, apricots. Remember a pastry that I used to eat as a kid but I cannot come to the name. Cakes with pineapple? Apricot pie? Tartlet with strawberry jam?
Mouth of lower quality than the nose. Fruity.
Final: on cinnamon

Color: Gold
Nose: salty seaweed and marked by aromas of apricot.
The palate is fresh, minty. The aromas are like the nose marked by the fruits of the orchard, this time peach.
The finish is peppery.

This whisky has a good balance but lacks a little power to make speak a nonetheless appealing pepper.

The first nose is woody and mineral. It calms down quickly, but by acquiring images of moorland. All is well built and developed on the vegetal: grass, fresh herbs, pine, spices with cumin and cloves first, and gingerbread. Really fun. The mouth presents a clear and precise attack. First the mineral (chalk, ash), and the heath (heather, light humus, Scotch broom), and then the sour grapes and fresh curd. The finish of medium length, has a nice bitterness, nuts, fresh almonds and other nuts as well as spices and a little mint.
A very pleasant expression with a nice bitterness in the background.

Color: Gold

Nose: very soft and round, with a buttery presence of a vegetation smoke ,some farmy hints. Rather monolithic at first. Autumn fruit basket and a presence behind citrus with hints of chocolate. The milk caramel then takes it - sweets -. There are also menthol and pepper.
With aeration, cocoa is dominating leaving in addition fresh pear lying on a bed of straw.

Palate: The palate starts is the chocolate malt and caramel before coming being jostled by the pure cocoa gives a hint of bitterness.

Final: milk chocolate, hazelnut are combined with the wet grass and a hint of cassis. Balanced with hints peaty lightly salted. Of medium length.

In short: A really charming nose, going to the pastry confectionery. The Christmas aspect extends to the mouth in a nice balance, a beautiful integration of alcohol. Too bad it lacks complexity. The finish deserved a little long. Finally, a good whiskey that has mastered a seductive nose. Its lack of complexity is partly offset by the accuracy of its aromas.

Colour : Gold

Nose : We start with notes of almond paste and peat. A little smoke, cold ashes. It's very round and nice. Crystallized lemon. Some white wine. Lemon and ashes take over quite rapidly. Some liquorice. A slight hint of "herbes de Provence" and chemical candy. Vanilla. The round side faints quite quickly and gives way to some austerity.

Mouth : We remain on roasted almonds, but with a beautiful ash taste in addition, which comes to coat the whole thing. Superb.
Pretty well integrated alcohol. Notes of white wine, cold ash, smoke. The whole thing is quite lemony.

Finale : Long, on ash and roasted almonds.

Conclusion : A sweet and peated piece of candy. Not very complex, it goes down quite quickly, but very good for a winter evening.

Appearance: Yellow gold
Nose: Low to medium intensity, well integrated alcohol, dusty, alcoholic freshness, fruity (ripe fruits), malty, black tea, slight vegetables
Mouth: Low intensity, alcohol well integrated, as the nose the mouth has lots of flavours but without beeing aggregate
Finish: Short to medium
With water: Nose and mouth lose in intensity, the mouth loses in complexity but becomes more consistent on fruity flavours
Conclusion: A complex whisky but without beeing able to charm me, especially because of the lack of harmony and intensity

Colour: pale gold
Nose: Quite pastry, almond paste, some spices and notes of cereal.
In the second nose, the sherry on the nuts and spices is more present and notes of brandy, pear or plum.
Palate: The palate is more fruity than the nose on yellow fruits and citrus.
Then a few notes of nuts appear, and the almond paste.
Final: Medium and slightly bitter.

Nose: Cereal + Pastry with notes of iodine / marine background. Indolent. Balanced but confused.
Palate: delicate on a certain bitterness and evolution on the cereal malt. ... Too evanescent. A little pear? Probably too small anyway.
Final short and slightly bitter.
conclusion
It lets himself drink (easily), but not much feeling side.

The nose is first marked by nice, fruity acidity (apple), with a light wax and a little mango. It's fresh and inviting all at once. Over time, the nose becomes stronger and woody. It has honey, dry sherry, wood, paper pulp and a little peat. The set is suitable, even if it lacks a little complexity and power.

The mouth opens on exotic fruits. Smoothly it then shows flavors of apple, then wax, and milk chocolate. Everything is a little messy and lacks of power, that ventilation does not settle, even if the are emerging hints of wood and plants, which make it a little more austere and as difficult as ever to identify.

The final short, is dominated by the apple, with a little pepper and yellow fruits after aeration.

In conclusion, a whisky that has no flaw but lacks complexity and personality.

Colour: Straw yellow, white wine.
Nose: nose first hard to describe, vegetable soup, perhaps? Grilled pie dough, cabbage, white bread, margarine, slightly white vinegar.
Taste: oily, but does not express much.
Final: an extension of the mouth, a little more expressive, with notes of nuts, margarine.

Comment: Not much to say but not much to complain about. The addition of water does not change much.

Color: Gold
The nose, slightly farmy seems marked by notes of yeast. It's not particularly the kind of profile I like. Hints of peat and a distant hint of fruit.
Mouth contrasts with the nose. No more those unpleasant notes of yeast. The mouth is well balanced, with hints of mocha mixed with granola, and relatively low complexity. Nice though.
The finish is long and pleasantly marked by notes of milk chocolate.

Nose: Strange. The first nose burned on plastic and cellophane. Fortunately, the peat comes, with a leather salty, hints of heather, citrus and bitter lemon and some spices too. Background on the topic apple-grain. With aeration, notes fade quickly but not completely.
Mouth: very bland, seemingly very diluted. We find the impression of scorched tire, diluted in water. Some cereal, some fruit (banana?). A little spicy. Best in the finish with the late arrival of peat and smoke. But how flat it is !
Final: on peat and wood. But short ...
Conclusion: Lack of relief, harmful flavors ... Could do better.

Color: Pale gold.

Nose: Fourth phenolic of the set, and at first nose, it doesn’t seem to be the most interesting one… A mix of phenols and grain. A peaty malt from the fields, with lots of crushed and soaked cereals, and notes geranium. And also a bit of dust from an old barn.

Mouth: Really light. Huge reduction on the horizon. A silky mouthfeel, but apart from diluted phenols and a hint of honey, it significantly lacks of flavors and punch. A hint of lemon, perhaps?

Finish: Phenols help it to last a bit, with notes of dust and the bitterness of a stale beer.

Comment: A young malt that plays the card of delicate phenols, but doesn’t achieve in avoiding the defaults of youth. Sophisticated or weak? I’ve chosen my side…

Colour: intense golden
Strange nose. Somewhat animal, organic. the smell of "coffee liégeois"? Smells of hot caramel are evident. With this, a little background of peat and ash. Then the aeration, there is very little over ... Some indescribable flavor, perhaps?
Palate: medium hot and spicy woody. For the moment there is not much apart from a distant bitterness.
Finale of time. More pungent than the mouth. But still a shocking lack of flavor.

Comment: .. Not much to say in conclusion. I did not like. I felt nothing.
Several possibilities. Or whisky is really bad, or my sample was a concern .. Or my taste. In any case, the second sample for this and my conclusions are the same.

Ardmore

11 years

Comment by

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Johannes Sauer

Colour: Golden, brite straw, with green glimmers.
Nose: Very gentle, yet expressive and very round: Dried fruits, figs and dates combined with wet hay (a very surprising and delicate note of farmyard or cowbarn) backed by a clearly definded whiff of smoke (air dried bacon).
Taste: Very warm, full and malty and again this very pleasureful smoke stands in the back. Not as complex as the nose (pity, the farmyards missing) but lets try a good shot of water: Here now the soft malty notes dominate: milk chocolate, mints, marzipan, fresh buttered toast and here again this farmyard notes back. With more water added theres again more complexity.
Finish: Good and long, the oakwood sending soft waves of smoke and bitter herbs again and again.
Conc.: A very fine highlander s! tands tall. Beautifully crafted and balanced, goes perfectly with dark chocolate or tobacco.
Date: Feb/06/2008
Price in Germany: ca 55,00 Euro

Ardmore

1987/2003 Single Cask

Ardmore

Cask Strength Collection 1990

Ardmore

un chillfiltered collection 1992

Ardmore

18 years