Region: Bow of Fife, Lowlands
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant Added? No
(from a bottle split)
I'm pretty sure I am the only one who benefitted from this cluster. Here are the things I "learned":
It's time to finish up this cluster with its second dark sherry cask Ardmore. As I'd mentioned in the G&M cask review, I tend to prefer bourbon cask Ardmores, but that sherried hoggie was awesome. Today's whisky had a different life. It spent its final two years in a sherry butt, and the first 20 in at least two refill hogsheads. Thus, it's a single cask that really isn't. But is it good?
Distillery: ArdmoreNEAT
The nose arrives with an oaky California pinot noir note. Once the red wine slips away, the cask remains. Butter, raspberry jam, almond butter and a hint of pipe tobacco fill the front and middle; cinnamon, brown sugar and a touch of tar in the back. There's less sweetness on the palate than expected, more walnuts and roots (a good thing IMHO). Dark chocolate, almond butter and metal develop with time. It becomes earthier and bitterer too. Lots of dark chocolate, mint leaves and roots in the finish. A little bit of smoke and oranges as well.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Nuts, butter, orange peel and toffee in the nose. The palate has become almost all bitter roots and earth, with a touch of berry sweetness in the background. The finish is more dusty than smoky, with smaller notes of bitterness and mint candy.
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Though it's far from matching the aforementioned Gordon & MacPhail cask, this Ardmore works well in its own way. The palate has its act together, as opposed to the.....extremely contemporary-styled nose. There aren't many reviews of these two WhiskySponge Ardmores online — the Whiskybase folks have barely touched it and Whiskyfun hasn't said anything — so I'll reference Good Sir Opinions again. As he noted, the finishing cask seems to have covered up most/all of the Ardmore element of this Ardmore. Luckily the result is nutty and earthy. Thus this is an Ardmore for sherry cask fans rather than Ardmore fans.
The final two members of this Ardmore cluster were bottled by Mr. WhiskySponge himself. I'm not sure why I saved them for last, but pre-tasting nosings tell me they're different than the other ten in this series. Starting with the Sponge's refill hoggie, the oldest non-sherry cask of the group...
Distillery: ArdmoreNEAT
The nose arrives intensely piney, with crushed lemongrass and pickle brine (MGP-style) in the background. Notes of lox and lemon candy develop after a 20+ minutes. Oh my ganja, the palate. Wow. Uh okay, yeah, "hops" and dried oregano, grapefruit, pineapple, and some of the nose's pine. Then mezcal and metal and a whiff of peppery smoke. It finishes mostly peppery and metallic with some pineapple and IPA in the back.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or >¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose is a little more Ardmoreish now, with more beach and stones, rather than pine. Some rock candy in there as well. The palate indeed turns more towards hops than "hops". A bit more vibrant overall, sweeter and rootier, but still quite metallic. Its finish lingers sugar-free, plenty bitter and metallic.
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My Annoying Opinions reviewed his part of the bottle split two weeks ago. We found different notes and he seems to have liked it better than I, but we both were disappointed with this whisky that reads younger than its age. Devoid of the charm and grace found in the cluster's other 24 year old, this malt feels like it wasn't done cooking when it was bottled. May I dare suggest that a second maturation — like Sponge's other Ardmore — could have helped a little? Yes, this is me that's tut-tutting a spirit-forward whisky. I'll shut up now.