Ardmore Traditional Cask

Ardmore Traditional Cask

A review by Tommy Byrne

Overall rating: 9/10 (Single Malt notation)

I have said it in the past and will say it again: Speyside malts are not my favourites.  Being a peat-head I often find Speysiders too light and too sharp for the standard 10-12 years old bottles.  Not being chill-filtered and with its 46% alcohol volume, Ardmore Traditional Cask is an outsider in the region, almost a Highlander and that’s why I am very fond of it.  With no age statement on the bottle, it is very similar to Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask finishing method.  Traditional cask means smaller cask for the last part of maturation process (see Laphroaig Quarter Cask review). 

With its nice gold colour, I highly doubt there is any e150 (caramel) added only for looks. The nose is intense. First, the peat and phenols kicks in with some spices.  Then, citruses appear with some notes of white grapefruit and green pineapple.  After adding a few drops of water, some sweetness emerges with chocolate notes in the end.  The palate is far dryer and bitter. Oak is omnipresent. Adding water will loosen its edges and more vegetal and cereal notes will appear.  The finish is medium-long.

This is a spectacular full body whisky leaving oily tears in the glass.  The bottle, label and packaging are also flawless, nothing flashy as we like it.  Ardmore Traditional Cask is a great alternative to Talisker in terms of character.  Being one of the biggest distilleries in Scotland, only a very small part of the production goes for crafting single malts, the vast majority of the production goes directly into the blend of Teacher’s Highland Cream, a great old school blend with a very high content of malt (around 40%, unlike the most blends at around 20-30%).