hs305 scored this whisky 88 points

Oooh, no sulphur! Did they hear the bang or is this just by incident? Actually it is a quite nice dram with the typical (light) Ardmore peatiness escorted by delicious sherry and barley sugary flavours. All nicely balanced both in the nose and on the palate. No flaws in the mouthfeel and finish that I can find. The finish is long and sherry wine-sweet with nice peaty flavours that really pep it up. Water turns the dram smoother and releases more flavours but the nose stays punchy and somewhat closed even after water added.
I just had a 2cl sample because of my fears of sulphur but most probably I will get me a full bottle of this delicious stuff. Well done, G&M!
[October, 2021] Finally I opened the bottle I bought for 76 Euro in October, 2017 and did detailed tasting notes (see below).
[February, 2022] I re-tasted this dram tonight and I find it even better with a more interesting nose which would increase my overall score by one point. I leave the detailed notes and rates below as they were with the first impressions.
-
The colour is deep copper and the nose offers a punchy and balanced peaty-malty-woody profile which is okay but not really impressive. Obviously it cries for water so I add some drops but nothing really happens. Even a bigger splash does not unlock significant new aromas, too bad.
-
Wow, the taste is much better with significant delicious sherry flavours in an appropriate bitter peaty-wooden structure. The two form a very tasting combo and the malt joins in perfectly, I really like this. No off-note or imbalance that I can find but a lot of delicate flavours, this dram is very interesting to explore and greatly chewable.
-
The dram arrives warming and coating on the palate without distracting moments. The finish is long and adds more impressions of a cold bonfire (ashes) and warm sherry wine (anyway out there who drinks sherry on the rocks?). No distracting bitter or drying impressions until the very end. Water turns the dram smoother hence more quaffable and I like this baby both neat and reduced to about 46% abv.