Day 13 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - Ardnamurchan AD/11:16 KWM Cask
Posted on December 13, 2024
Day 13 — Ardnamurchan AD/11:16 KWM Cask 1146 – 57.5%
By Evan
Like yesterday, we will be diving into a whisky from a younger distillery for Day Thirteen. This time we are moving from the Lowlands, where Lindores Abbey is located, all the way to the coast Western Highlands. Say hello to Kensington Wine Market’s first single cask of Ardnamurchan.
We have featured Ardnamurchan in our Whisky Calendar once before, back in 2021 on Day 16 of that calendar. That whisky was so good, it ended up being my favourite in that year's 25 bottle lineup.
Ardnamurchan Distillery is located in the Western Highlands on the west coast. It is about a four-hour drive north and west from Glasgow along the A82, and a bit over a three-hour drive south and west from Inverness on the same road. Fort William is also an hour and a half drive away. The distillery takes its name from the Peninsula it resides on, just to the north of the Isle of Mull.
It's nearest distillery neighbours include another new distillery called Nc'nean to the south across where Loch Sunart meets the sea and Tobermory Distillery is a ferry ride away on the Isle of Mull. Though both of these distilleries are geographically nearby, they both would take at least an hour and a half to get to from Ardnamurchan.
The remote distillery is owned by the Independent bottler Adelphi. Adelphi made the decision we have seen other indie bottlers make over the past few decades in building a distillery. This put them on a list of bottlers-slash-distillery-owners that includes the likes of:
- Cadenhead (Springbank and Glengyle distilleries)
- Gordon & MacPhail (Benromach and The Cairn distilleries)
- Signatory (Edradour Distillery)
- Hunter Laing (Ardnahoe Distillery)
- Douglas Laing (Strathearn Distillery)
I am sure a few others that are just not coming to my mind right now. The reason for this diversification is to ensure that they always have something to bottle of their own if they suddenly cannot buy stock from other distillers or suppliers. It also gives them stock that they can potentially trade with other companies if they wish to.
Adelphi started planning on Ardnamurchan back in 2007, though the distillery was not built and in production until seven years later in 2014. The first casks of new make were filled that year on August 1st.
Thanks to Adelphi having their independent bottlings, they were able to take a bit more time to get things running the way they wanted at Ardnamurchan. The company has not had as much pressure as young distilleries often have to produce and sell gin and get that first whisky out the door ASAP in order to start recouping costs. They were plenty excited to share Ardnamurchan with the rest of the world, however — the company did put out a few releases of barrel-rested spirit that were too young to be called whisky prior to being able to bottle the real thing.
With steady finances and patient owners, Ardnamurchan can push fermentation time longer than many distilleries to between 72 and 96 hours — a big difference between the typical 50–60 hours seen at many distilleries. It allowed Ardnamurchan to take more time in maturing their first single malt release, which launched on September 30th of 2020, more than six years after they opened. The company just announced their first 10-Year-Old Ardnamurchan release this fall, though it has not reached our shores as of my writing this.
In my opinion, Ardnamurchan might just be the best of the new crop of young distilleries that have opened in Scotland over the past 15 years. Their rugged, coastal style is somehow both unapologetically rich and bold while also managing to be very approachable. Will this KWM Cask manage to show what I am talking about, or put me in my place?
Ardnamurchan AD/11:16 KWM Cask 1146 – 57.5%
“This is our first KWM-exclusive cask of Ardnamurchan… it is also the first Ardnamurchan cask bottled exclusively for a Canadian retailer… and we are more than a little excited to have it. Of the 40-odd new distilleries in Scotland, Ardnamurchan is one of our favourites. This 7-year-old peated Ardnamurchan was matured in a single ex-Bourbon Barrel, selected by your friends here at Kensington Wine Market. 57.5%. Loads more geeky details below!
Ardnamurchan Blockchain Anorak (Geeky) Details:
- The malt variety is Concerto, grown at Broomhall Farm, and it was peated during the malting process.
- The mashing was done by Gordon Mackay, and the three waters were respectively: 64.5C, 82C, and 96C.
- Fermentation was by Nicky Docherty, with an average of 76 hours.
- Distillation was also by Nicky, with the spirit run starting at 73% and cutting off at 64%.
- Matured in an ex-Bourbon Barrel, Cask No. 1146, filled in November of 2016.
- The whisky was bottled on March 26th by Kelly Combe, Holly McCafferty, and Reece Donaldson.”
Evan's Tasting Note
Nose: The wonderful fruity, lactic, and coastal notes of Ardnamurchan are on full display here. Lightly smoked Gouda, apple and pear skins, roasted and salted sunflower seeds and cashews, vanilla Crème Brûlée, ozone and salty olive brine.
Palate: Creamy and salty and bursting with flavour. Sticks of Juicy Fruit gum clash and combine salty shortbread, poached pears, campfire s'mores, creamy oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, more creamy roasted cashews, and a touch of strawberry marshmallow candies.
Finish: Salty and creamy and smooth, even without water. Smoke wafts around through it all.
Comment: I am a big fan of Ardnamurchan. It is in the at the top tier of newer class of sub 15 year and younger distilleries, not just for Scotland but the world. Their peated whisky like this one often makes me wonder if it is what you would get if you blended Kilchoman with Springbank. When we selected this single cask from the samples that Ardnamurchan was kind enough to send our way, I recall all of the samples being great. After a bit of deliberation, we chose this as the greatest of them all.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: youthful and complex, with an old-school antiquated feel… this is not a pristine modern-style distillate; fruity, funky, and smoky with a maritime flourish; Isle of Mull Cheddar on traditional oatcakes topped with spicy chutney; Marcona almonds and olive tapenade; poached pear dusted with pepper and baked apple; cedar plank smoked salmon.
Palate: big, coastal, creamy, and toasty with a cheesy funk and fresh smoke; the palate surges in like a breaking wave and then mellows beautifully into buttery oak and salted caramel; more poached pear and baked apple, with fresh citrus zest, and softer melon tones; more aged Isle of Mull Cheddar, oatcakes, and spicy chutney; the malt is chewy but balanced, far more than you would expect for the age, with a wet gravel minerality; oak spices mingle with beach bonfire smoke near the back end; more cedar plank smoked salmon with a fresh dill crema.
Finish: malty, coating, and spicy with fading fruits, cheese, and smoke… and that wet gravel minerality.
Comment: this is even better than I remembered, and I knew it was good; on one hand I wish more distilleries were making old-style distillate like this, but if they were, would we still appreciate it in whiskies like this? You could very easily confuse this with something peated from Springbank… but apt as the comparison might be, at what point do we start comparing other interesting and desirable whiskies to Ardnamurchan… they are 10 years old now!
Cheers,
Evan
Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?
You can find the rest of the blog posts here!
This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM Single Cask, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings
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