Ardmore

[DramMeister]

Well I bought it.

No not the Black Bowmore, but the Ardmore OB.
(It was £22 and a half pounds so you could get 86 and 2 thirds bottles of Ardmore for the same price).

There's no clue on its age but I did notice at the checkout it was 46% and non-chill filtered, and the tasting notes look exciting. Let's just hope Santa doesn't drink it before next week!

If anyone knows anything about how old it is I would be very interested.

Cheers, Ian

[Di Blasi]

That new bottling does look and sound like a good one, 46% and non-chill filtered. The only Ardmore I've had is a Gordon and Macphail Cask bottling from 1990, and that was good!

[micheluzzo]

Hi,

tried some Ardmore recently and most of them were interesting.
An old Ardmore Cad. dumpy bottle, which was very fruity with less peat.
The Ardmore from JMA (75cl bottle) was punchy with a long finish. The new Ardmores from the 90ties, bottled 2006 or 2007 from Sig. in the decanter bottle (cask strength) are also very peaty with vanilla and a nice bourbon cask touch.
Two Ardmore from Samaroli for his anniversaries were also excellent. The one with the water colour label was very good and 'molto elegante', the other one in the black bottle had more punch but nevertheless fruits, vanilla and tobacco.
There were also two original bottlings from Ardmore (anniversary bottlings). I only remember, that this one with 40% was not so interesting and the other one with 43% was much better but very expensive.

micheluzzo

[corbuso]

That new bottling does look and sound like a good one, 46% and non-chill filtered. The only Ardmore I've had is a Gordon and Macphail Cask bottling from 1990, and that was good!

If you like the Ardmore GM and the Laphroaig Quarter cask, then you will enjoy the Ardmore Highland style OB. Personally, I enjoy the Ardmore very much, in particular the peated versions. Ardmore offers a very good quality/price and it is often an underrated distillery.

And if someone has some Ardmore 1980 from MacArthur, please PM.

BR

.........
http://www.whisky-news.com

[Mr Fjeld]

That new bottling does look and sound like a good one, 46% and non-chill filtered. The only Ardmore I've had is a Gordon and Macphail Cask bottling from 1990, and that was good!

Is this the very same cask strength to be released in January at the Wine Monopoly?

[pavv]

Hi,

tried some Ardmore recently and most of them were interesting.
An old Ardmore Cad. dumpy bottle, which was very fruity with less peat.
The Ardmore from JMA (75cl bottle) was punchy with a long finish. The new Ardmores from the 90ties, bottled 2006 or 2007 from Sig. in the decanter bottle (cask strength) are also very peaty with vanilla and a nice bourbon cask touch.
Two Ardmore from Samaroli for his anniversaries were also excellent. The one with the water colour label was very good and 'molto elegante', the other one in the black bottle had more punch but nevertheless fruits, vanilla and tobacco.
There were also two original bottlings from Ardmore (anniversary bottlings). I only remember, that this one with 40% was not so interesting and the other one with 43% was much better but very expensive.

micheluzzo

That is quite some ardmore tasting you've done....I attended a private vertical tastingparty this fall with also a lot of Ardmores. Unfortunately no dumpy cadenheads or the (indeed very expensive) Ardmore anniversary bottlings but a nice collection anyway:

Ardmore 13yo Signatory 1992-2006, (C#4867+4868), 43%
Ardmore 13yo Signatory 1992-2006 (C#4866+4870), 43%
Ardmore 26yo Samaroli 1977-2003 (C#7631, Sherry 738 Bts.), 45%, *
Ardmore 27yo Signatory 1977-2004 (C#1767,Sherry 588 Bts.), 43%
Ardmore 19yo 1978/1998 (46%, Cadenhead's)
Ardmore 18yo James MacArthur Old Masters 1980, 51.4% *
Ardmore 19yo 1978/1998 (59%, Cadenhead's)
Ardmore 1977-1991(?) Gordon & MacPhail 40%
Ardmore 1981-1997 (40% G&M Licensed)
Ardmore 1990-2006 Gordon & MacPhail 16y 43%
Ardmore 12yo 1993 (46%, DL Provenance Autumn Distillation, C#1588)
Ardmore 12yr SMoS 1994/2006 c#578&598, hogshead, 745 bts., 46%
Ardmore 1991/2006 Gordon & MacPhail Cask Strength (C#6158-59-60), 57.9% *
Ardmore 20yo SMWS 66.20 1985 54.1%,
Ardmore 24yo Cadenhead's 1977/2002 (636bts.) 46%
Ardmore 26yo Scott's Selection 1977-2003 (Sherry Wood) 58.1% *
Ardmore 23yo Signatory Dumpy 1977-2000 (306 bts.) 58.1%
Ardmore 1992 M & H selection pinot noir finish Domaine Zeyssolff Alsace (C#1395) 55,6%

The ones with an * were my favorites. I liked the Ardmore 18yo James MacArthur Old Masters 1980, 51.4% best, it;s supposed to be the same bottle as the'500 years of Scotch Whisky' version.

I recently tried the new Ardmore OB bottling and I was underwhelmed...Not 80's material for me. Most of the above mentioned IB's were a lot better

[DramMeister]

... and more expensive no doubt.

The local Sainsbury's has it for only £20.

Still enjoying it and I'm thinking about buying a back up.

[Deactivated Member]

Apparently the second batch of the OB was better. At WL Glasgow last year, even the Ardmore people admitted that the first batch was disappointing.

[Ras Mazunga]

Received the Fully Peated 46% OB and it is a beauty. Recommended.
I'm going to pour one right now to make sure.

[Mr Fjeld]

Apparently the second batch of the OB was better. At WL Glasgow last year, even the Ardmore people admitted that the first batch was disappointing.

Ardmore is being launched in Norway in May - is there a way to find out which batch we get - or is it maybe sold out by now? Also, does anyone know the aprx. age of this one?

[TroyM]

Is it just me, or has anyone else found a distinctive flavour of caramel in the Traditional Cask? Has anyone got any tasting notes?

[corbuso]

Is it just me, or has anyone else found a distinctive flavour of caramel in the Traditional Cask? Has anyone got any tasting notes?

For your info, here are some and like most whiskies at 40-43%, it has some caramel flavours, mainly noticeable in the finish.

http://www.whisky-news.com/En/tasting6.html#06Oct07

[Willie JJ]

That new bottling does look and sound like a good one, 46% and non-chill filtered. The only Ardmore I've had is a Gordon and Macphail Cask bottling from 1990, and that was good!

I was reminded at the weekend just how good the G&M cask bottling is. Quite excellent really and much better than the new OB (the batch that I tried anyway).

[jimidrammer]

I still have a spare of the G&M C/S from 1990. A very smoky Ardmore at that. I am more familiar with a 1992 Signatory UCF that made the rounds the last few years. The Traditional Cask has not made an appearance here yet, I hope soon, so I can put all three side by side.

[Deactivated Member]

Willie, that's really interesting. Up until recently I had a G&M Cask Scapa which was also much better than the OB.

I have an OB Ardmore in the pub which is OK, but really nothing special.
MT

[Willie JJ]

The G&M is much better Keith. I am considering taking one to Feis Ile for a bit of fun.

[Dram fine idea]

I went round Ardmore distillery on Saturday (3 May) as part of Speyside festival Ronnie's tour of Huntly. It's not usually open to visitors. The tour was given by Gordon Grant and he was very enthusiastic about the distillery - great to see. We had a dram of the OB at 46% at the end of the tour - a good dram for any occasion.

[corbuso]

I went round Ardmore distillery on Saturday (3 May) as part of Speyside festival Ronnie's tour of Huntly. It's not usually open to visitors. The tour was given by Gordon Grant and he was very enthusiastic about the distillery - great to see. We had a dram of the OB at 46% at the end of the tour - a good dram for any occasion.

And no dram of the 12 YO Centenary?
During the Autumn speyside whisky festival, we could taste both, but I presume that they ran out of the latter.

The G&M from 1990-1were very peaty. I haven't tried the 1994, but the 1994 is now about 40-50% more expensive than the earlier bottlings.
I have tasted recently a few 1977 Ardmore from Cadenhead's and they were excellent, quit peaty, but slightly less than the G&M from 1991.

[Deactivated Member]

I was also at the Ardmore visit - they were still selling the centenary 12yo (£40 a bottle) but offered only their new NAS for tasting. Pity, as the 12yo is much, much better - and I said as much to them. Still, we did get a miniature Teachers to take away with us...