Ardmore Tradition

2008

Real starter whisky! Nice flavour if a little watery. Great value for money!

Finished watching South Carolina defeat Duke for entrance into the Sweet 16 bracket. Fun game to watch while sipping on this whisky thanks to Paul. A straight forward nose with essentially three elements: peat, fruit cocktail and brine. Vanilla and oak do, however, hover buried further back. On arrival, it is deep and warming to the core, courtousey of the high ABV. Peat and brown sugar are balanced and the two binary flavors dance: one step, peat; two step, brown sugar. The dance continues and dances away to a hot and spicy peppery finale. The finish is oaky and sweet with vanilla-honey and smoke/ash. The flavors don't remain long and I wished it to last longer. I found this to be more on par with an Islander than a Highlander. This has the foundation to be in the upper tier of peated whiskies, but I find it lacks a maturity as it feels somewhat forced to "grow up"; artificially expeditited to give a superficial maturity (if that makes any sense). That being said, this is still a rather enjoyable. The peat and sweetness make it a nice wintertime warming dessert. [Dry Glass: Salted Caramels][85/100][Tasted: 3/19/17]