Whisky : Ardmore 14 Year, SMWS 66.190 “Softly merging…”

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 59.8%

Cask : 2nd Fill Barrel

Age : 14 year (Distilled 11 May 2006)

Nose : Fruity, floral, and syrupy. Sweet citrus and cream opened things off with lemon icing, lemon butter, apple juice, and salted lilikoi candies. Gradually floral notes appeared with dandelions flowers, herbaceous greens, and dried pine needles.

Palate : Medium-bodied, punchy, and a bit hot with notes of fruit, spice, and wood. An initial blast of hot punchy salted lemon peel, fermented guava, white pepper, and slightly bitter pith transitioned to a clean sweetness on the back palate. Notes of roasted coriander powder and pepper carried into pine and candied grapefruit at the end. A few drops of water smoothed out the mouthfeel and brought more pepper out across the experience.

Finish :  The drying astringency of bitter lemon pith dueled with dried apricots.

Score : 5

Mental Image : Spiced Lemon Bundt Cakes

Notes :  Originally entitled “Butter-poached peaches” outside of the US, I was intrigued by the idea of an unpeated Ardmore— sometimes labeled as Ardlaire and jokingly referred to as Ardless. It was not the most popular dram at a recent local tasting, though it did have a few fans (and even a few votes for best of the evening). Most were, like me, intrigued by the idea of unpeated Ardmore spirit, and there seemed to be a consensus that even if people were not in love with the profile, they still thought it was a fascinating bottle.

Ardmore has been a bit of an old reliable for our whisky club; we have shared quite a few of them without disappointment. This one came the closest to a letdown, though, oddly, the biggest fans of the bottle were those who cherished peat the most. They did not feel let down that a mainstay peated highland whisky came at them with fruit and spice instead of grassfires and bacon.  Personally, while I found this interesting, I am not in a hopping hurry to try another unpeated Ardmore.