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.