This is the fifth and last part out of a five-part series of reviews of a private tasting of Independent Bottlers in my local liquor shop. Our personal line-up: 1. Càrn Mòr - Strictly Limited - Benrinnes 10 Year Old 2009 2. Hunter Laing - Talisker 2008 - 9 Year Old Old Malt Cask 3. Claxton's The Single Cask - Bunnahabhain 2013 - Staoisha - 6 Years Old 4. Caol Ila 5-Year-Old 2009 - Hepburn's Choice (Langside) 5. Ardnamurchan Spirit 2019 AD Technically, or better ‘legally’, this Ardnamurchan isn’t whisky - yet. It’s a vatting of two butts, six hogsheads, and twenty-one octaves. All being ages over 3 years, and thus being Whisky, except for the Octaves, that are only matured two years and a bit. To add even more interest, the barrels are a mixture of both Amerian and Spanish oak, having previously held Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez liquids. The release is not as limited as the other bottles, but nevertheless, only about 5000 are available. The wine influences of the Oloroso and Ximénez became immediately obvious by the color of this dram. Almost amber-like, it showed a lot of promise. 
The nose was pleasant, sweet, and smoky, while the palate added some dried fruits and more smoke. Where the Claxton’s Bunnahabhain's smoke punches you in the face (but not in a bad sense!), this spirit eased in more slowly and builds it up. Add to this salted caramel (yummy!) and enjoy a perfect dram, carefully balanced, with both tons of flavor and smoke. The aftertaste keeps on going, with mostly smoke and some salt. Of all the drams tasted today, this Ardnamurchan spirit was the only one to really match up to the Claxton’s Bunnahabhain Staoisha. I would rate them both at least four stars. I might even have a very slight preference for this one over the Claxton, but since my son really loved the latter - ànd our friends were already buying this Ardnamurchan Spirit - we decided to purchase the Claxton’s instead. For the Arnamuchan, I'll perhaps purchase a bottle when it's officially a whisky, in a few months!