Ardmore Traditional Cask

By Barry Bradford on October 14, 2014 • ( 1 Comment )

Ardmore Traditional Cask

Ardmore Traditional Cask ~ 46% (Beam/Suntory)

46% ABV, £30 for 70cl

Score: 76/100

What they say:

The 2007 release of this ‘Traditional Cask’ was the first official single malt from the Ardmore distillery, this is a young whisky, but it was aged in quarter casks, which proffers a speedy maturation thus discounting its youth.

Tasting Note by The Chaps at Master of Malt

Nose: Full of caramel. Toasted oak is evident and rich and just the faintest peat has muscled its way through.

Palate: Lots of barley and cereal notes, oodles of rich bourbon, smoke and peat still present. Charming interplay through the caramel sweetness and the vanilla spiced oak.

Finish: Has a sharp edge, more caramel and sugary barley notes and a lanolin smoothness and more tapering smoke.

What I say:

The Ardmore Traditional Cask has recently been superceded by the Ardmore Legacy expression, retailing at approximately the same price the new expression is 6% lighter in ABV, and no longer carries the statement Non chillfiltered. Neither of which seem particularly positive points to note. So before it disappears completely here is what we thought of the defunct Ardmore Traditional Cask.

Colour:

Full golden amber

Nose:

Sweet icing sugar and slightly perfumed floral notes of heather, a little citrusy fruit and some cereal malt, gentle fragrant wood and peat smoke

Taste:

Sharp, cleansing and almost a little ascerbic palate, this settles to reveal a light richness of malty cereal, sweet honey and golden syrup, and prickly cinnamon with heathery peaty notes. A little buttery and oily, there is a modicum of vanilla and bourbon influence. Not too old and not too young in the palate.

Finish:

Long, sweet with souring oak wood and a light peaty influence

Overall:

Not bad for an introductory dram, this has some body and a little complexity to it. I was hoping for a fuller palate from the nose but this appears to be a little thin, sharper and more prickly than I was expecting. There is a slightly chewy nature from this and the more you work with it the more the peaty nature comes out. A drop of water separates the sweet and peaty elements which for me sadly didn’t improve this whisky.