Ardnamurchan ad/07.21 :04

Color: Summer sunset. Nose: Heathered peat with light wood smoke and apricots. A little lemon zest emerges with pine as well. Palate: Bright and round with red berries, mild toffee, and glazed salmon; fruit preserves set the stage for barbecued fare. Finish: Pleasantly dry and a touch earthy, with a woody, floral character. Diluted: Nose is all campfire s'mores on warm graham crackers, while the palate softens to honey and finish layers into a rich meatiness. Dynamite.

It's not all the time that I have a hankering for peated whisky. But sometimes when the craving hits, everything not peated tastes boring. It's like I develop peat pica and have to rummage through the whisky cabinet or stashed samples for anything smoky, briny, vegetal, tarry, or iodic. In my manic hunt for peat, I may also branch out to new whiskies. I had been curious about this distillery, but had stayed away mostly thinking it was too young and not peaty enough. But after a couple recent endorsements decided to give it a try. Overall, glad I did. On the nose, lemon, honey, fairly light whiff of peat. From the nose, I'm not expecting this to satisfy my craving. On the palate, however, the peat plays a more prominent role. It's not the star of the show, but it's got a speaking role for sure. Pear, honey, lemon custard, candied ginger, and somewhat vegetal and smoky peat. The peat comes across more campfire smoky than briny, but there's a smidge of salt in there too. I wouldn't have guessed it's only 5-6 years old, but will say that compared to Kilkerran 12, (which seems to have about a similar level of peatedness), the Ard comes across as somewhat less refined. Maybe an unfair comparison, but the last bottle of Kilkerran I bought I only paid about $10 more for. Of course, prices for whisky have gone up across the board, and the Kilkerran now seems to be $90+, so $59 for this seems now like a fair value. In fact, I liked it enough that I bought the cask strength bottling, which I've yet to try, but from what I gather it's got more peat and nearly 60% ABV. Gotta keep that peat pica satisfied. Cheers!

TBH, I had this right after a jamacain rum which may have ruined my taste buds. Nose: Peat, melon (cantaloupe?), candied something (bacon maybe?), and VANILLA Palette: Sweet peat. Honey & minor spice. Vanilla & a dash of salt. Finish: Sweet honey notes linger. And the peat. Overall, it’s a little thin to me & isn’t overly complex. It reminds me a bit of a Lagavulin (in a good way).

Very smooth with just a bit of peat. Easy drinking.