Ardmore 14 year old 2000 Exclusive Malts for Total Wine & More

I miss wandering back-and-forth through many many Total Wines' scotch whisky aisles, a decade ago. TW's shelves were always stocked with malts from Laings' and Stirk's brands, and several other mystery companies that I've never seen anywhere else. (Today in Ohio, I've nearly memorized OHLQ's entire single malt selection. Though the offerings have grown in the 2020s, Ohio has brought in almost no independent bottlings, and when they have, the stuff doesn't sell.)

The Total Wine shelves usually held a nice lineup of David Stirk's Exclusive Malts, a range that included a Ben Nevis I quite adored. At one point, an Exclusive Ardmore joined the group, and somehow escaped my grasp. Almost ten years later, I was able to get in on a bottle split thanks to Mr. Ricebowl, who'd unearthed his bottle from a whisky closet...

Distillery: Ardmore

Ownership: Beam Suntory
Region: Highlands (Eastern)

Independent Bottler: Creative Whisky Company

Range: Exclusive Malts

Age: 14 years old (May 2000 - 2015)

Maturation: two or three American oak casks

Outturn: 517 bottles

Exclusive to: Total Wine & More

Alcohol by Volume: 51.6%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Apricots, barley, oats, and leather reach the nose first, followed by fruit cocktail juice, apple peels, and a hint of wood smoke. I find peat-smoked marshmallows on the palate, along with a swig of lime juice, so there's a mix of smoke, sweet, and tart in the foreground. A youthful spirity bite and chewed grass roll through the background. Wow, it's nearly new make on the finish! Eau de vie meets dried apricots meets grass meets wood smoke.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ¾ tbl of water per 30mL whisky

Now apples, lemon juice, and moss fill the nose. The palate is crisp and tart, like limes and green apples. It's a bit tingly and effervescent in the back. The subtler finish offers mild notes of dried apples, mint syrup, and smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Firstly, I fibbed about all these Ardmores being from the distillery's Steam Coil Era. Today's 14yo was distilled via the old direct fired stills. It's a sweet, young, and friendly Ardmore bottled at a very good strength. I tried it side-by-side with the Adelphi 2002, and though they possess different styles, their overall qualities match, with this 2000 offered at half the price, albeit five years earlier (2015 vs 2020). Quality-price-ratio + time machines for the win!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $90-$100?
Rating - 85