No. of bottles: 5100 bottles
Alc/vol: 57.4%
Content:
16 American oak ex Oloroso octaves unpeated Ardnamurchan (55 litre original fill)
5 American oak ex Oloroso and PX octaves, peated Ardnamurchan (55 litre original fill)
1 American oak ex PX hogshead, peated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
1 American oak ex PX hogshead, unpeated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
1 Spanish oak ex PX hogshead, peated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
1 Spanish oak ex PX hogshead, unpeated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
1 American oak ex Oloroso hogshead, peated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
1 American oak ex Oloroso hogshead, unpeated Ardnamurchan (250 litre original fill)
2 Spanish oak ex Oloroso butt, unpeated Ardnamurchan (500 litre original fill)

2 Butts, 6 HHD’s, 21 Octaves

Warehouse location: Ardnamurchan warehouse no. 1 lower and upper floors

Tasting note:
Deep copper gold with amber lights with good beading.
Crème caramel with candied orange. Manuka honey and mango; rock salt, liquorice, maple-cured smoked bacon and extinguished peat kilns.

Aroma: sweet sherry. Cherry. Malt. Slightly sweet salty smoke.
Taste: Spicy. Let peat. Sweet. Sugar.
Aftertaste: meaty peat. Sweet. Let vanilla. Salt
Very oily.

***
????: gold,
????: volatile, intense but also crisp, sherry, chocolate-dry, a bit salty and windy, even a pleasant atmosphere of strong sweet fresh wine,
????: sweet, slightly chocolatey, even smooth but also intense, slightly astringent, oily, a little surprise for a 2yo
????: warm, sweet-sherry, not so short,
*
Very pleasant nose, tasty on the tongue, correct finish,
Pretty cool Spirit!
*
????: 4/10
????: 85/100

This spirit is so, so good already....
Tasted much more mature than expected.
Full off flavour, mouth warming with a beautiful color.
This bottle was emptied so so quick....

Nose: Sweet and concentrated on the entry – the sherry is very pronounced here: lots of dried fruit, with the ‘regular’ suspects such as sultanas galore, dates, fig, and the occasional prune.. There’s also a youthful feeling to it, with some new-makish notes, which are well ‘hidden’ under the many layers of sweetness and fruit. While the sherry is strong with this one, there’s also a nice toffee’d / caramel notes coming, maybe a hint of salty caramel as well. A musty feeling too, with mushrooms and burnt toast, as well as some wee smoke of a sweet kind.

Palate: Mmmm. nice stuff, with a nice alcohol bite, which requires some water to tame it down. It’s sweet and filled with sherry notes, just as the nose suggested, with more maple and golden syrup, some orchard fruit maybe, some wood char, and again a wee smoky edge, but not a lot of that, more of a smoky brewed tea, and a peppery tang getting dry.

Finish : drying, oak, vanilla, charred wood and coal, dusty and a bit sooty with the sweet sherry tannins going a long way.
Very nice stuff for such a young ‘un.

Conclusion : I was not expecting much (not sure why, maybe I have had too many young spirits which were not mature enough costing too much – you can’t blame me) , but this one’s really nice for what it is. It’s not even 3 years of age, aging in the cold weather of Scotland, and it feels ready. I know there’s a lot of Octave casks games going on, purposely used to hasten the maturation process, and that has worked nicely, all in all. The sherry is also doing a nice job at ‘concealing’ the real tender age of this liquid, and although it’s not the most ‘complex’ of drams, it does have a lovely nose, and a good balance of sweet, malty, smoky and sherried notes. I am very much looking fwd to tasting the liquid aging in proper big casks in the coming years, I have a feeling we’re going to see some very good whisky coming out of this wee distillery. Good work Adelphi. very good work.

I am impressed.