Ardnamurchan AD/01.21:01

Ripe yellow peaches and papaya, sprite, smoke, steel, sea salt, wood pencil shavings on the nose. Chocolate covered cherries, 5-spice dusted baked peaches, ripe mango slices tossed in melted butter with a touch of white pepper spice heat that lingers nicely. There’s a creaminess that tempers the alcohol preventing a harsh burn on the finish.

After reading some positive reviews from @soonershrink , I decided to finally get around to opening up the sample of Ardnamurchan 01:21:01 that was generously provided by @Richard-ModernDrinking The nose starts with honey drizzled over grilled peaches and pineapple, chocolate covered raisins along with a mild peaty smoke then light florals and seaside rocky minerality followed by sautéed apples, mandarin oranges and musty grapes that transitions to ginger, cloves and sandalwood with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy orchard fruit, honey lozenge and a mild campfire smoke before a moderate spice that slowly fades to dark chocolate spicy mocha and dehydrated figs then light florals and seaside rocky minerality followed by candied lemon peel, nectarines and cantaloupe that transitions to light baking spices and sandalwood with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length starting with a mix of creamy orchard and lightly soured tropical fruits that slowly fades to dark chocolate spicy mocha, ocean brine, mild campfire smoke and sandalwood. This is a delightful dram that drinks far older than the 5 years it aged and for me, it invokes a sensory experience of sitting by the seaside with a campfire while watching the waves slowly crash over the rocks with a picnic of sweet and sour fruits, honey over charred bread and dark chocolate covered raisins with a rich mocha. It does suffer from a higher spice than I prefer along with a mild youthful sourness, but overall it is one that I’d really want a full bottle to explore more. This batch is likely all gone, but based off a quick online search, there are bottles available for around $70, which I think is very fairly priced for a wonderful seaside fruity dram with light peat smoke. I really look forward to seeing how their spirit does with more age and think this will be one to watch out for. Thanks again @Richard-ModernDrinking for the sample as this was a real treat.

2022 advent.

This whisky was very tight lipped for about a month in the bottle, but now it’s starting to open up to me. On the nose, there’s a light peat smoke with a Hubba-Bubba bubblegum hiding behind it. I get some lemon zest, but like a lemon zest mixed with sugar. Little bit of waxy apple skin. Pear. Vanilla oatmeal. Palate is so luxurious. Very thick and oily. Waxy, lemon rind, cereal, hint of smoke. Waxy like clynelish. Lemony like an Ardbeg can be, but obviously toned down. Menthol on the finish. Some of the waxiness. Pest smoke. Little sweetness of some kind. Overall a nice dram. A bit overpriced for my liking, but the distillery is doing cool things. You can scan a QR code in the bottle and get a breakdown of every barrel that went into the whisky. Very cool. Will definitely try another expression from this distillery.

Beautiful pear and apple on the nose, sugary. Nice oily mouthfeel with warm spices on the finish.

High alcohol

This second release from one of the hot new Scotch distilleries has really grown on me after a couple of glasses. To oversimplify, it’s like a classic Highlander with a warm honeyed center, but with a lively undercurrent of ginger spice. Ardnamurchan produces both peated and unpeated spirit and I’d guess there’s a mix of both types in this bottling. The way the sherry casks present mid-palate reminds me of how the honey oozes out of a lemon cough lozenge I used to get in my childhood. I’d gladly drink this over Glenmorangie 10 any day and tasted blind I might even mistake it for a Balvenie were it not for the spice. Between this and Torabhaig, we are going to be spoilt for great affordable Scotch before too long.