The Ardmore 20 years Vintage 1996

Rating: 17/23 A few years ago, I tried an Ardmore independent bottling and was really impressed. I think it was like 9 years old or so. I hope that this isn't a total disappointment. Today, I finally fixed my fireplace and I feel like a smoky whisky is appropriate for celebrating. N: Oily apricot with a smokiness that makes me think a bit of barbecue, as well as hints of baking spices. A bit of an abnormally strong wort smell too. P: Whoa! There's a lot of sherry here! It's sweet with cherry, grocery store orange juice, ashy smoke like charcoal, hints of iodine, hints of roast meat, faint pear, a waft of wort, very light caramel, the faintest suggestion of dark chocolate, and mild baking spice notes (allspice, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg). I like the complexity and quality of the flavors here, but it doesn't taste all that aged. Where's the wood flavor? F: The spices linger a bit, along with the wort, which is still pretty bold. No weird bitter flavors here, but lingering barbecue smoke is happening. It's light though. - Conclusion - I like this whisky. It's weird and challenging, but I like how it comes together. I like the smoothness, but I really wish that there were more age showing here. Still, there's a nice decadence going on here. I'm thinking that this is easily a 17 and it may be a 21. It's not a 22 though because it tastes too young. Highland Park 16 Wings of the Eagle (17/23) is fuller and smoother, though it lacks the nice edgy complexity that this has. Paul John Christmas Edition 2020 (16/23) is fuller than this is, but it's less balanced and nuanced than this is. I give the win to this one, even though it's on the light side. I'm a little disappointed in the side-by-siding here, but I do think that this is closer to the Highland park than it is to the Paul John, so I'm going with a 17 here.

Nice light plated a little kick but very pleasant

My favorite unfamous distillery. Lightly smoky, citrus,vanilla,fresh sweetness. Finish longer than medium, slightly,dry crispy with light ash bitterness.

Peaty but too sweet like syrup

A 20yo Ardmore, one of the finest and most "hipsters" distilleries out there. I don't think this one is too famous, bit every little thing i have tasted from them is great. This 1996 vintage, 20yo whisky is no exception to that rule. Bottled at 49.3%abv, with a solid burnished gold color. On the nose, it is impressive. Right away you get a Grassy Peat, the kind of peat from burning Moss. Smoky. Under that smoke there is a lot of other aroma notes: Pineapple juice, tropical fruits, yellow super fresh oranges. It feels strange to have tropical fruits on an Ardmore. Peat overpower the rest of the aroma notes, not in a bad way. Powerful alcohol note but not unpleasant. Burnt pineapple, dulce de leche, lemon and peaches. After a couple lf sips it releases a thick chocolate, dry brown cake aroma. On the palate is not the best, maybe it is a little watery. Citric/tropical, lime, pineapple, dry chocolate cake. What happens on the nose, is replicated on the palate. Aftertaste is delicious. Peat reveals itself as ashes, smoke. Very pleasant and very balanced. Overall this is a very good whisky, super recommended, if you can grab a bottle of this stuff, you wont regret it. 92 over 100.

On the nose: fruity, sweet, smoke, figues, almonds Palate: peat smoke, fruits Finish: a bit burning but very nice

Unremarkable, unpeated dram from Ardmore that kicked off the year 2020 as my only 20-year-old Scotch in the collection. This is my first expression from the distillery and although my initial impression was even more negative (notes of stale bread), it did improve with time in the glass. I need to go back to this with more wits about me to provide a proper mark, but starting here as a first impression.

Light, smoky citrus with vanilla undertones on the nose. More sweet vanilla and fudge along some peach rounded of with a light hint of tar and salt. A really nice whisky to wind down with after a long day