Side by Side : A Trio of Man With The Hat Releases

@SouthportWhisky club founder Victor Porter @onekv regularly releases Indie bottles with his own distinct labels designed by the maestro @jwbassman_.

But I think @uk_whisky Peter Hunt from the club chose the latest 3 single cask  releases and sent me samples to try!

Dram	A12 : Aultmore	T6 : Tullibardine	A14 : Ardmore
Characteristics	12yo Bourbon Barrel 50% ABV 236 bottles	6yo Sherry Cask 50% ABV 150 bottles	14yo Bourbon Barrel 50% ABV 216 bottles
Bottler notes	B14 - A single-cask, cask-strength whisky distilled at Aultmore distillery and given the seal of approval by festival goers at our Summer Whisky Festival!	B16 - A single-cask, cask-strength whisky distilled at Tullibardine distillery and given the seal of approval by festival goers at our Summer Whisky Festival!	B15 - A single-cask, cask-strength whisky distilled at Ardmore distillery and given the seal of approval by festival goers at our Summer Whisky Festival!
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin tears.	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit, acetone and icing sugar to start. Some sweetness from honey, a little peppery spice and vanilla ice cream. A little time and air reveal tropical fruit.	Treacle toffee, dunnage funk, some farmyard funk and a huge hit of balsamic vinegar. Sherry bomb territory and only 6yo! Some sherried dried fruit, black cherries and dark chocolate.	Fresh smoked Whitby kippers, salinity, lemon zest and a hint of petrol. There's a little tropical fruit,
Palate	Sweet spicy arrival, immediately drying. There's icing sugar and liquorice dryness, honey and tropical fruit sweetness with a little salinity and maybe some smoke or cask char? There's an interesting grape skin note and some toasted coconut. Peppery spice left on the tongue as the liquid disappears,	Thick sweet arrival, meaty, well into sherry bomb territory here: sherried dried fruit, dates, figs and black cherries. a little burnt rubber and dark chocolate give a lovely complexity. There's some honey sweetness, gentle cinnamon spice and a hint of my favourite balsamic vinegar drizzled strawberries!	Thick sweet arrival, honey, tropical fruit and SMOKE. Loads of smoke! Thankfully the Kipper note doesn't continue to the palate but there is a lot of salinity. Some lemon zest and icing sugar giving a sharp dry note. Some tropical fruit notes give a lovely layer to the dram.
Finish	Medium length, tropical fruit, salinity and peppery spice.	Lingering sherry soaked dried fruit and dry cinnamon spice.	Lingering lemon zest, peppery spice, smoke and tropical fruit.
Overall	All of these drams were bottled by Heroes and Heretics, and to be honest these are the first of theirs which I've tried. The Aultmore was a solid ex-bourbon Speysider, the ABV giving it a lovely bite of spice. The Tulli must have been in a very active FF cask or maybe a smaller cask? The distillery character all but wiped out but it's a yummy dram, perfect for the coming winter months. The Ardmore nose was a little off putting, I like kippers but not in my whisky! But once on the palate is again shows what lovely spirit the distillery produces - it doesn't need diluting or chill filtering - just bottle it for us! Three good drams, the Tulli and Ardmore stood out for me - Yummy!

Geeky Stuff:

Here's a list of all of the Man With The Hat release:

Release	Code/Age	Distillery	Information	ABV	Bottles
B18	HP18	Highland Park	Refill Hogshead	60.4%
B17	NB33	North British	TBD	TBD
B16	T6	Tullibardine	H&H Hogshead	51%	150
B15	A14	Ardmore	H&H Bourbon Barrel	50%	216
B14	A12	Aultmore	H&H Bourbon Barrel	50%	236
B13	S13	Speyside Distillery	MSWD 1999	46%
B12	U10	Un-named Highland	MSWD	46%
B11	BGXX	Invergordon, North British, Strathclyde, Cameronbridge, Girvan, Carsebridge, North of Scotland, Cambus, Caledonian, Garnheath	MSWD Blended Grain	53%	12
B10	G32	Girvan	HL First Editions	51.1%
B9	M14	Mortlach	HL Old Malt Cask	55.2%
B8	S14	Speyburn	HL Old Malt Cask	58%
B7	S24	Strathmill	M&M Hogshead	47.2%
B6	S26	Strathmill	M&M	53.8%
B5	GG26	Glen Grant	M&M Ex-bourbon Barrel	51.8%
B4	S27	Speyside Distillery	M&M	63.3%	78
B3	P11	Pulteney	M&M	60.9%	70
B2	NB28	North British	M&M	59.9%	20
B1	T21	Tomintoul	M&M	50.2%	70

H&H : Heroes and Heretics

HL : Hunter Laing

MSWD : Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers

M&M : Morrison & Mackay