Whisky: Ardnamurchan 5 Year SMWS 149.1 “Smokey, salty, and malty”

Country/Region: Scotland/Highland

ABV: 61.5%

Cask: First Fill Oloroso Sherry Butt

Age: 5 Years (Distilled 14 Sept. 2015)

Nose: Wood char, spice, and salt. Burning grass fires sent the aroma of heather and ash into the air, or was that just smoke from the chopsticks I dropped into the grill? Salty-sweet notes of charred wood mixed with fish sauce, Chinese medicinal spice sachets, and cigar box. Water brought out malty molasses cookies and hints of vanilla cream.

Palate: Medium-bodied with pungent heady spice, tobacco, and wood char. The palate was awash with a sweet smoke carrying cinnamon, vanilla, and ginger. The combination conveyed burnt gingerbread cookies with nutty hints of candied almonds. Herbal tobacco and wood brought to mind an impressively stocked warm humidor that lingered with a subtle salt and earthiness.

Finish: Lingering notes of sweet spice and toasted pastries.

Score: 7

Mental Image: Fire at the Cinnamon Factory

Notes: Big, bold, and a bit tannic, this Ardnamurchan was aggressively spicy with a wonderful tobacco-herbal depth that shone even more with a few drops of water. I enjoyed how the aroma of burning grass and wood paired with subtle layers of spice. A few drops of water transformed the dram with malty molasses cookies and herbal tobacco. For my taste, the dram was a tad on the tannic side; even with water, it remained drying throughout.  

I am not always in the mood for such an aggressive spicy smoke punch to the palate, but I have found these heavily peated Ardnamurchan satisfy me when I am. This dram, for instance, packed a lot of intensity with an almost unctuous quality to the flavor notes as the aggressive young spirit balanced against an equally impactful first-fill cask. Since this was the first cask that SMWS bottled from the distillery, I suspect many people bought it as a potential collectible rather than as a good whisky. I am fortunate that our local whisky club made sure to open a bottle so we could all get a feel for just what is going on over at Ardnamurchan.