Ardnamurchan AD bottlings sell for around $65 Now that I can’t buy Springbank 10 for less than $100, I’m thinking these no-age statement Ardnamurchan vattings of various casks are the best single malts you can buy at this crowded $50-75 price point… maybe Port Charlotte 10 is up there as well, but, Good Lord, an old-school full-flavored entry level single malt is hard to come by these days. I’ve gone through two bottles of Ardnamurchan AD, and I did not record the actual bottling dates, but the two bottles were from different releases, and they did not taste noticeably different. These whiskies are exquisitely balanced blends that give you the full Scotch experience with a noticeable touch of peat and oiliness bolstering a wide variety of notes: umami, pepper, citrus, grass, tobacco, and toffee. A beginner will still find this potable, but an experienced Scotch enthusiast would be quite mesmerized by this, especially if it is a blind pour. The blending skill evokes Compass Box, but because this is all from one distillery, it is of course a single malt. This is the pinnacle of the newer distilleries from Scotland and is an illustration of how you start building a reputation with young stock: meticulous blending and fair pricing. There is no better version of this flavor profile on the shelves that I’ve tried – no more expensive bottle that I could recommend as a “if you like this style, buy want to spend a little more for something similar but better” because there is nothing similar. The old-school bottling that this old-school whisky reminds me the most of is an extinct expression, Ardmore Traditional Cask, a gem of a whisky that I used to pick up for less than $40. Memories.