Ardnahoe Inaugural Release

@ardnahoe Distillery is the 9th distillery on Islay, we visited a couple of years ago, they were distilling but hadn't released anything yet.

This month they released their Inaugural - a 5 year old!

Ardnahoe, which means ‘Height of the Hollow’ in Scottish Gaelic, has built in 2016 by Hunter Laing & Co. (Stewart Laing and sons Andrew and Scott). The first cask was filled in November 2018, I visited in 2022, it's a very picturesque distillery.

A pair of worm tubs, the only ones on Islay, sit outside the still house

The still's lyne arms stretch 7.5 metres, the longest in Scotland!

The Inaugural Release ~ the first Single Malt Scotch Whisky of Ardnahoe Distillery.

This limited release has been matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks, and is bottled with no artificial colouring and no chill-filtration. 40PPM barley from Port Ellen Maltings.

70cl, 50% ABV NCF, Natural Colour

Distillery notes: 

Shortbread, baked apples and Islay peat smoke on the nose.

Custard, ginger, lemon zest and baked apples on the palate lead into a long, smoky finish.

 

My thoughts:

Appearance: Mid gold in the glass, swirls leave  thin lines which bead up slowly and fall as slow thick legs. 

Nose: gentle peat smoke notes to start: smoked bacon, bonfire ashes, old leather and a little smoked fish. There's some salinity: dried seaweed. A little time and air offers tropical fruit hints, marzipan, vanilla and milk chocolate. A little sweet citrus: orange zest and some berry hints here too from the Oloroso: blueberries, strawberries and blackberries.

Palate: sweet and spicy arrival - a little thin but mouthcoating. Dry and smoky with honey, ginger spice, tropical fruit and berry hints from the nose. There's more of the salinity here too: salted caramel and a little sour citrus. A gentle oak spice on the tongue as the liquid disappears. A few more sips and the smoke dissipates a little, salted lemons, BBQed pineapple and ginger spice now - yummy!

Finish: medium length ashy smoke, tropical fruit, berries and gentle spice notes.

Thoughts: A lovely well balanced dram, the nose leads on beautifully to the palate! At no time does it come across as 50% ABV. I'll admit to trying a couple of pre-release samples, one wasn't inspiring, one was so I had mixed feeling over the final bottling but my fears weren't realised - this is a yummy dram - a cross somewhere between Caol Ila and Ledaig but with it's own identity. Still available from the distillery website - do yourself a favour!