Ardmore 20 Year Old

Ardmore cracks open a rare 20YO release that speaks of the Highlands and the salty sea.

William Teacher, needed a steady supply of Whisky to support their famous blend — Teacher’s Highland Cream. So, his son Adam founded Ardmore distillery in 1898 in the Highlands of Aberdeenshire. One of the things that makes Ardmore so unique is that they are one of the few Highland distilleries to dry their malt with peat smoke. So their Single Malts taste like a hybrid of a fruity Speyside and a mild Islay. For years all production went into blends. Now owned by Beam Suntory, they also have four, popular core Single Malt releases and occasional special editions.

Speaking of hybrid special releases… Ardmore 20YO Single Malt Whisky is an oddity — but it sure is a tasty one. It is comprised of twenty-year-old classic Ardmore Single Malt. But those two decades of time in the cask was time spent apart. Half of the spirit is aged in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks and the other half in refill Islay Single malt casks. We’ve tasted a lot of Whisky in our day, but this is a first. The result is a wonderfully complex dram that has strong notes of stone fruits and vanilla coupled with a bit of smoke and salty brine that tingles the tongue.

Smartass corner:
The name Ardmore comes from the Scots Gaelic “Àird Mhòr,” meaning “great height.” Perfect for a Highland dram, don’t you think?