Dram | 2003 12yo [SMWS] 66.231 Rum Cask Finish | 12yo Port Wood Finish (Distillery Bottling) | 2011 9yo (Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers) PX butt & Oloroso Sherry Hogshead | 2010 9yo Single Cask #1313A (The Sipping Shed) | 2010 11yo Single Cask #1313B (The Sipping Shed) |
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Characteristics | 62.3% ABV 5yr refill Trinidad rum barrel finish. | 46% ABV | 47.5% ABV | 55.5% ABV Natural colour, NCF Oloroso 72 bottles | 51.9% ABV Natural colour, NCF Pedro Ximenes 73 bottles |
Bottler notes | Refined aromas gathered heather, orange blossom and croissants around burning gorse, bacon-flavoured crisps and salted ham served with horseradish sauce.
Sweet meaty flavours continued on the palate but now with barbeque notes and soot covering honey-roasted parsnips, meringue and toasted pine nuts. Water made the aromas sweeter and more medicinal, with antiseptic notes and red shoelace sweets.
Finally, singed cashews arrived on burnt toast topped with cumin before hints of the grill tray rounded out the finish.
Seven years in an ex-bourbon barrel before being transferred to a refill Trinidad rum barrel. | Nose - Initial nose of strawberries and summer fruits with a hint of pepper. Notes of burnt orange and cinnamon spice underlie. With water, the rich fruit aromas of red apple and cranberry intensify, accompanied by sweet honey and subtle spiced wood notes.
Palate - Sweet red apple and honey with the subtlest hint of charcoal smoke.
Finish - Initially smooth with a long, lingering finish culminating in the trademark Ardmore dryness. | | Nose: Think whisky-cured bacon. Subtle smoky flavours alongside an exotic sweetness from the sherry cask which adds a hit of caramelised raisins and spice.
Palate: Punchy, traditional style with a malty core and complex, spicy layers. There’s definitely Christmas cake in there, with the Oloroso influence perfectly complimenting the gentle peaty tones while the original bourbon cask adds soft notes of vanilla and coconut.
Finish: Long and comforting, this is a fireside dram to warm the chilliest winter cockles. A truly satisfying drop. | Nose: Earthy, meaty, bacon frazzles, leather, honey and some floral notes along with gentle spices, pine needles, and slight grassy note. Herby sausages juxtapose a sweeter, spicier sherry dimension. Liquorice, touch of yeasty dough. An instant charmer with much to explore.
Palate: Altogether more gentle than the punchy nose suggests. Lashings of warm sweet peat, pine wood chips thrown on to a barbeque to cook those herby sausages from the nose, with sweetness and spice from the PX cask. A fresh earthiness comes through, more so with water, while the sherry notes add a familiar layer of cake mix. The balance is perfect – the indomitable spirit remains in control throughout with the casks refining rather than defining the whisky.
Finish: Smoky and sweet, fades quickly at first and then lingers faintly for quite some time. |
My thoughts: |
Appearance | |
Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up very slowly and fall as slow thick legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up very slowly and fall as slow thick legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up very slowly and fall as slow thick legs. | Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up very slowly and fall as slow thick legs. |
Nose | Tropical fruit: pineapples, banana, kiwi, mango; lots of vanilla, a little orange marmalade and some milk chocolate. | Berry fruit mainly strawberries, some citrus, a little vanilla and a hint of stewed pears. There's some salinity alongside the medicinal peat smoke notes. | A little farmyard funk to start, then the berries, salinity and finally the dirty earthy smoke arrives. Well balanced on the nose. Some cherry and dried fruit notes follow. | Loads of berries and cherries to start, a little salinity, some marzipan and then a lovely blanket of dirty peat smoke. There's some dried fruit, figs, dates and a little caramel. | Again loads of berries and cherries to start, sticky toffee pudding, dirty peat smoke and some milk chocolate. There's some liquorice notes, a little salinity and some vanilla here too |
Palate | Sweet oily arrival, honey, toffee, tropical fruit - too sweet in fact! This need a fair bit of water. The rum cask has completely destroyed the distillery character - tropical fruit and syrup have taken over - there's no smoke, no salinity, no spice - not nice. | Sweet oily arrival, mouth coating. There's berries, honey, caramel and a lovely blanket of dry smoke. More sips and the dry smoke starts to take hold, little glimpses of the berries, a peppery spice and a little sour grapefruit. Yummy! | Thick, sweet and oily, lots of dirty ashy smoke to start and then the berries, dried fruit and cherries creep in. There's some salted almonds, a little sweet citrus and a bite of peppery spice. Some juicy orange notes as the liquid disappears. | Thick sweet arrival, immediately drying and a big bite of chilli spice. There's some mixed berry jam notes, dried fruit, a little marzipan and that salinity I associate with Ardmore. Dried fruit, plums, dates, figs - very Christmassy! | Thick sweet arrival, dirty smoke, sticky toffee pudding and a little toffee. The liquorice from the nose is back with figs, dates and molasses. There's a little burnt toffee, balsamic coated strawberries and a lovey peppered blueberry finish as the liquid disappears. |
Finish | Lingering sweetness and cloying dryness. | Lingering dry smoke, berries and a little peppery spice. | Short and dry with smoke and some berry notes. | Long lingering smoke with a dry spicy note and berry fruit. | Lingering thick berries, smoke and peppery spice. |
Overall | The rum cask finish I actually left to last - I knew I wasn't going to like it after the first sniff - far too sweet and how on earth did it keep that ABV after 12 years? The distillery bottled Port Cask finish is a lovely dram, probably the best of the core range. Well integrated smoke, fruit and spice at a respectable 46% ABV. The Carn Mor is a lovely dram, the smoke probably dominates the sherry a little. Very dry, a little nutty and hints of salinity accompany the Ardmore smoke. The Sipping Shed Oloroso is what turned me back to Ardmore - a beautiful dram, keeping all of the distillery character and adding a layer of berry complexity - the fact that it's youthful I think helps the dram. The PX version is a little older and a little more complex. The PX has taken over a little, the distillery character is still there but it's hiding under the covers!
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