To be honest the Legacy is not that bad a dram - pears and vanilla custard with a little peat smoke on the nose, sweet honey on the palate and smoke with a little kick of spice on the finish. "Uncomplicated" I think I called it in my review, a simple easy drinker. One interesting observation is that most, if not all, of Ardmore's social media is centred around India - they must drink a lot of it out there!
Ardmore is a Highland distillery, one of the highest in Scotland at 600ft. It was built in 1889 by Adam Teacher next to a railway line to help transport his raw materials in and whisky out.
"Get to the point" I hear you say! OK, OK, As I've said I've already reviewed Legacy and it was OK, what I want to talk about today is what happens if you take Ardmore's spirit and leave it in a cask for a little while.
Beam Suntory who own Ardmore seem to be pretty relaxed when it comes to selling casks of their whisky to independent bottlers - there's a lot of it about - SMWS, TWBC, Chorlton, Claxton's, DL, AD Rattray, G&M etc I can honestly say I've never had a bad one, in fact some of them have been bloomin good. Case in point today's offering:
SMWS's 66.137 "Dirty but good", 54.7% after spending 20 years in a Refill Ex-Bourbon Hogshead. It was distilled in Oct 1997 and 282 bottles filled in 2018.
SMWS thoughts:The nose gave cigar smoke and coal bunkers, honey on burnt sticks, green leaves on garden bonfires; an apothecary’s apprentice and a Fisherman’s Friend; also a faint meaty note. The meaty and the medicinal came through on the palate – bandages and Elastoplast, smoked duck and venison – plus citric smoke, clove and nutmeg spice – ‘dirty but good’ someone said. A maritime aspect appeared on the reduced nose – tarry driftwood, putty on portholes, lemon on oysters; vapour rub and lavender. The palate – dark chocolate gingers and aniseed balls and sea water sizzling on a barbeque grill; mouth-tingling dry smoke and Marmite to finish.
My thoughts:
Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls fall as slow thick well space legs.
Nose: Fresh earth notes - a little damp grass, some mint and some sweetness. A little time in the glas reveals a faint bbq steak note. I was expecting more smoke but it isn't there....
Palate: Loads of honey sweetness, a little sour grapefruit, a little spice and then the smoke comes in as a gentle blanket. A few more sips and the smoke starts to dominate - vying with the honey and citrus. In the end it's a lovely balance.
Finish: Lingering finish with lots of warmth, a little spice and lots of smoke.
Overall: 20 years suggests this may have got a lot from the wood, but it being a re-fill hogshead suggests maybe it hasn't - how many times has it been refilled? Are we talking about some old tired cask? I think maybe we are and what it does show is that Ardmore's spirit shines through. I wish they'd stop selling their cheap supermarket Legacy dram - it really gives them a bad wrap. This SMWS bottling, the Chorlton one from last year and Best Dram's PX Sherry version, all independant Ardmore bottlings I've tried in the last 12 months, have all been brilliant. Come on Ardmore - give us some of your own single casks!
Many thanks to @jwbassman_ for the sample swap!
My thoughts:Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls fall as slow thick well space legs.
Nose: Fresh earth notes - a little damp grass, some mint and some sweetness. A little time in the glas reveals a faint bbq steak note. I was expecting more smoke but it isn't there....
Palate: Loads of honey sweetness, a little sour grapefruit, a little spice and then the smoke comes in as a gentle blanket. A few more sips and the smoke starts to dominate - vying with the honey and citrus. In the end it's a lovely balance.
Finish: Lingering finish with lots of warmth, a little spice and lots of smoke.
Overall: 20 years suggests this may have got a lot from the wood, but it being a re-fill hogshead suggests maybe it hasn't - how many times has it been refilled? Are we talking about some old tired cask? I think maybe we are and what it does show is that Ardmore's spirit shines through. I wish they'd stop selling their cheap supermarket Legacy dram - it really gives them a bad wrap. This SMWS bottling, the Chorlton one from last year and Best Dram's PX Sherry version, all independant Ardmore bottlings I've tried in the last 12 months, have all been brilliant. Come on Ardmore - give us some of your own single casks!
Many thanks to @jwbassman_ for the sample swap!
No comments:
Post a Comment