Welcome 2023! Here's an Ardmore Cluster!

Having been a refuge for the coronavirus on the third week of the year......and then again on the third-to-last week of the year, then burying my last grandparent, and being involuntarily moved to the most difficult job of my life, I am happy to see 2022 in the rearview mirror. But the year wasn't a total bust. I started dating. Yeah, watch out, ladies. Ladies?

**crickets wanking**

Oh yeah, I don't have any non-male readers anymore. It's a veritable snausage festival up in here, so I'm just gonna manspread while I type the rest of this.

Back in August, I tweeted this:

On this, my 44th birthday, I would like to thank the Scotch whisky industry for convincing me to get back to buying American whisky again. Thank you. 🫶

— kravitz underscore hubris (@kravitz_hubris) August 24, 2022

As a result I'm going to bring sexy Bourbon and Rye Day Friday back in March.

I've gotten requests for more Killing Whisky History videos (yes, really), so I'm going to try to do a few this new year.

And clusters? Here's one!

It's about damned time I had some Ardmore, so I'm going to start the year with a month of 'em. Each of the 12, except the first, will be from the direct-fired stills-era (specifically 1996-2000 in this case) and bottled at 20 or more years of age. If you don't already know, I adore this distillery, but I've never lined up multiple Ardmores side-by-side. I may even open up one of my own bottles. Yes, you read that correctly.

Will Ardmore and I still have warm feelings for each other at the end of this cluster? Or will 2023 begin with whisky heartbeak? Stay tuned!

(For more on Ardmore's history, please see this mini three-part series. Part One. Part Two. Part Three.)

ARDMORE ROLL CALL:

1. Ardmore 17 year old 2003 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 598 for K&L - "...contemporary approach to Ardmore, with lots of smoke and cask influence..."

2. Ardmore 24 year old 1996 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 3515 - "Beach, farm, industry, soil, rocks, fruits, dunnage, yeah."

3. Ardmore 21 year old 1998 Single Malts of Scotland, cask 750753 - "A very naked Ardmore."

4. Ardmore 20 year old 1997 SMWS 66.138 - "To recap: neat = curious and awkward; diluted = brighter and cuddlier."

5. Ardmore 21 year old 1997 SMWS 66.146 - "Every Ardmore can't be great. And this one..."

6. Ardmore 22 year old 1997 SMWS 66.168 - "A simple huggable Ardmore...it does what it needs to do..."

7. Ardmore 22 year old 1997 SMWS 66.174 - "...the neat palate hits that earth + citrus style I always enjoy."

8. Ardmore 20 year old 1996 Old Malt Cask, cask HL13770 - "...a clean, lean 20 year old single malt with just a touch of oak influence."

9. Ardmore 21 year old 1998 Thompson Brothers - "...more of a brawler...a relative of Caol Ila..."

10. Ardmore 21 year old 1997 Whisky-Doris, cask 901456 - "It's kinda perfect."

11. Ardmore 24 year old 1997 WhiskySponge, edition 76 - "...reads younger than its age...feels like it wasn't done cooking when it was bottled."

12. Ardmore 22 year old 2000 WhiskySponge, edition 69 - "...an Ardmore for sherry cask fans rather than Ardmore fans."
Cluster Conclusion