Ardmore 18 year old 2002 Adelphi, cask 285

The new year has begun — if you hadn't heard — so it's Ardmore time!

I started this practice in 2023, then continued it the following year. I enjoy doing this because I enjoy Ardmore. Then again, I fell reasonable head over reasonable heels while drinking the direct-fire-stills years (pre-2002), and even though the distillery has tried to mimic the style with steam coil kinks(!) since then, I'm not convinced the spirit is the same. But that's never stopped me from trying more and more of the new stuff, especially since the malt's peat levels are right in my happy zone (12ppm, think Benromach and Springbank).

This time around, I have seven steam-coil-era indie Ardmores for ya, including one of my own bottles. Two of these whiskies were even bottled this past year. 🤫 Yeah, I know that's crazy talk on this blog.

Going somewhat backwards, oldest to newest, I'm starting this septet with an 18 year old Adelphi that isn't dark as coffee, thanks to its refill bourbon cask maturation.

Distillery: Ardmore

Ownership: Beam Suntory
Region: Highlands (Eastern)

Independent Bottler: Adelphi

Age: 18 years old (2002 - 2020)

Maturation: refill bourbon cask
Cask #: 285

Outturn: 228 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 55.8%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off with wet concrete, mossy peat, cocoa powder, and cheap plastic toys, which sounds like the beginning of a sad childhood tale. It brightens up later with notes of dates, honey, and honeydew. The palate reads peatier than the usual Ardmore, bold and punchy, bitter and peppery. Some grapefruit pith here, chlorophyl there, a dab of vanilla in between. It finishes smoky and tangy, growing both sweeter and bitterer with time.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Adding water brings out the sunlight here. Now the nose is full of florals, confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, and dates, with hints of metallic smoke and shredded wheat. The milder palate remains peaty, but also has become sweeter, as the nose's shredded wheat gets frosted. It finishes with gently sweet citrus smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Solid, though unremarkable, this 18yo is a more of a winter warmer than the usual Ardmore at its age. I wouldn't have been able to pick this one out as an Ardmore had I tasted it blindly. That's not a bad thing, as long as the whisky is good. As noted above, dilution does soften it up, but I think I enjoy this one heavier. Thank you to Adelphi for not suffocating this spirit with a soaked sherry hoggie. As a result there's some actual whisky in this whisky.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - was £180 in 2020
Rating - 85

Things I Really Drink: Tamdhu 14 year old 2007 Distiller's Art

I'm ending 2024 with a happy whisky story since much of the world, online and off, can be particularly joyless right now.

OHLQ, the state of Ohio's liquor control agency, decided to take the leap into single cask scotch whisky in 2022. They've been bringing in hoards of American whiskey single barrels, but never anything from the Scot Land. Then, with little hubbub, single sherry casks of Blair Athol, Craigellachie, and Tamdhu from Distiller's Art (a branch of Langside Distillers, which itself is a limb Douglas Laing & Co., a successful independent bottler of Scotch whisky) materialized on the shelves. Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, the bottle prices were prohibitive to the point that even those of us who've been begging Ohio to get in the game weren't buying the stuff.

But, like other state-run liquor agencies, OHLQ often offers clearance prices on products when it's time to empty the shelves to make room for other inventory. So we all waited. And waited. And waited. And then this fall, Last Call happened. Prices for these whiskies dropped below $100. The Doctors Springbank and I chose to split a bottle of the Tamdhu cask. I picked it up at the shop, brought it to the Doctors' house, and we each poured ourselves a glass.

I've spoken previously about the magical It Factor, "the eternally mysterious, inexplicable, undefinable "YES" quality." After the first sip, we all looked at it each. The Tamdhu had It. So much so, that this cheapskate immediately said he'd buy another bottle. The Doctors, NOT cheapskates, agreed to do the same. We drove directly to the liquor store upon finishing that first glass, and each bought our own bottles.

It was a discovery! A whisky deal for a whisky gem. The global whisky marketplace seemed to have banned the possibility for the forseeable future, and I lived in the middle of American whiskey country. This should have been the last place in the First World (outside of certain Orthodox religious areas) for the this old magic to occur. And yet, it happened. I hadn't had this feeling for nearly a decade, and here I was sharing it with friends.

I'm happy to report, several months later, the whisky still works.

Distillery: Tamdhu
Ownership: Ian Macleod Distillers
Region: Speyside (Central)

Bottler: Langside Distillers

Range: Distiller's Art
Age: 14 years old (Apr 2007 - 2022)
Maturation: Sherry butt

Outturn: 582 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 61.8%
(from the bottle referenced above)

NEAT

One immediately notices that there's a lot going on in the nose. It's very nutty and briny, with some dunnage funk, and a hint of toasted seaweed. Fresh cherries, dried raspberries, and a whiff of dark chocolate linger beneath. The palate is tangy, tart, and nutty, with equal hints of sweet and savory. There are walnuts, Brazil nuts, oranges, grapefruits, and Luxardo cherries over a base of nutmeg and cloves. It's neither hot, nor tannic. Gently (yes at 61.8%abv) sweet and tart, the finish dishes out dried apricots, dried blueberries, and nutmeg.

DILUTED to 46%abv, or 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose has soften prettily, revealing orange blossoms, orange creamsicles, lime candy, marzipan, and ocean breezes. The palate is savorier and saltier, less sweet. Actual oloroso, Manuka honey, brightly tart limes, and some almost-peat phenolics. It finishes with lemons, limes, honey, walnuts, and almonds.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

If you chose to skip the above novel, I'll summarize it here. This Tamdhu is excellent. It is complex, it is delicious, it is honed yet a little dirty. It reaches back into my whisky past and reminds me of what I like about sherry cask whisky. It has It, and really I can't ask for more. I'll see you next year.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - dropped from $164 to $98
Rating - 90

Scapa 14 year old 2008 Distillery Reserve Collection, cask 623

After reviewing two old fashioned, diluted Scapas, I am now going to dig into a new fashioned very high-ABV Scapa. Part of Pernod's long-running Distillery Reserve Collection (of which I still have never acquired a bottle), this nearly coffee-colored whiskey appears to be a sherried beast, though hopefully there will be some complexity to it. I advance with pipette in hand...

Distillery: Scapa

Ownership: Pernod Ricard (via Chivas Brothers)

Region: Isle of Orkney

Range: The Distillery Reserve Collection

Age: 14 years (21 March 2008 - 28 March 2022)

Maturation: 1st fill sherry butt

Cask #: 623

Outturn: 828 500mL bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 63.2%

Chillfiltered? No

e150a? No

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts well, with Cherry Coke, shoe polish, and marzipan. 15 minutes in, dried cherries and mulled wine appear, followed by beef stock and baklava, thirty minutes later. The palate is So. Damned. Hot. It tastes of grapes, anise, lime juice, and burning. Took a while to find the finish, thanks to my numbed tongue. But I eventually found oloroso and tart citrus.

Water please...

DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

On the nose there are grapes and cherries, juices and jams, and a dose of Chambord. The palate feels thicker and is more approachable. It's very sweet, with Luxardo cherry syrup, oak spice, and oranges. It finishes tangy, tannic, and sweet.

More...

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 2¼ total tsp of water per 30mL whisky at bottling strength

The nose shows cinnamon, cocoa powder, and toffee up top, almonds and brine underneath. The palate's becalmed sweetness makes way for more nuts, salt, and tartness. Ginger and in-season cherries also appear. That ginger+cherry note mixes with PX in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Firstly, this isn't my preferred whisky style. Featureless spirit smothered by an aggressive cask, and bottled at an unpalatable strength, doesn't do it for me, but the style has been very prevalent on the market for several years now. So, people like it. You may like it, if you is people.

After my first sip of this stuff, I brought over another high-powered sherried beast that I actually like, and because its palate was very nuanced (and tasty), it whupped this Scapa. And I think I'll review that whisky next.

As for this Scapa, the nose registers well at all strengths. Water does rescue the palate, and further dilution may improve it more. But at no point does it set itself apart from hundreds (or thousands) of other distilleries casks bottled in the 2020s. Approach at your own risk.

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - £90
Rating - 83 (with water)

Scapa 19 year old 1989 Mackillop's Choice

I miss seeing Mackillop's Choice single cask bottlings perched atop a retailer's whisky shelves, with their simple brown labels with black and red text. Lorne Mackillop somehow got his mitts on six different 1989 Scapa casks, and even bottled one — today's whisky — for The States. It's another 43%abv from the other Orkney distillery...

Distillery: Scapa

Ownership: Pernod Ricard (via Chivas Brothers)

Region: Isle of Orkney

Bottler: Mackillop's Choice

Age: 19 years (1989 - 2008)

Maturation: ???

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? ???

e150a? ???

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose arrives more vividly than expected, full of apples, lemon juice, barley, and yeast up top; strawberry candy, watermelon Jolly Ranchers, and cantaloupe on the bottom.

Marshmallows, butterscotch, and lemon lollipops greet the palate first, followed by grapefruit pith and tart cherries. Dunnage and pencil shavings linger underneath.

It finishes tarter than the palate, with tart citrus and berries up front, and maraschino cherries behind.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Another pleasant, gentle drinker with very little oak intrusion. This one is more moreish than yesterday's G&M 10yo; more memorable, too. Again, there's no complexity in this Scapa, but it's hard to carp when the whisky is so soft and tasty. Now I'm getting interested in this distillery.

Availability - Sold out long ago
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85

Scapa 10 year old Gordon & MacPhail licensed bottling

Scapa, the other Orkney, has never seen the light of day on this site. My interaction with that distillery's single malt has been limited to the official (and defunct) 14 and 16 year olds, two very underwhelming whiskies. Luckily(?) I've uncovered three very different Scapa samples in my whisky room. At best, this will be a grand discovery of another good-but-scarce malt. At worst, it'll be another sort of discovery, one that teaches me that I haven't been missing much. I anticipate this experience will fall somewhere in between.

The series starts on the mellow side of things with Gordon & MacPhail's non-vintage licensed bottling of Scapa 10-year-old. It's good to see that G&M bottled it at 43%abv, rather than 40%. More the whisky, I do not know, other than that my sample is from a bottle that was filled at least nine years ago, and it was an American release.

pic source

Distillery: Scapa

Ownership: Pernod Ricard (via Chivas Brothers)

Region: Isle of Orkney

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail

Age: minimum 10 years

Maturation: ???

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? Probably

e150a? Probably

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

A pretty layer of fresh apricots. dried pineapple, orange candy, and anise sits atop the nose. Malt, oak spice, and wet stones mix together underneath. 

The straightforward, mildly sweet palate is all lemon, milk chocolate, malt and vanilla.

A soapy moment appears in the finish, then disappears by the third sip, thankfully. Limes, tart oranges, and vanilla remain.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Between its bright nose and solid palate, and considering my bleak expectations, this whisky is a fun surprise. It's a very easy drinker, a background whisky, and could be from any one of scores of distilleries. I'm not sure if bottling it at a higher ABV would have done much to elevate it further, so I'll take it as it is. Overall, it's a promising start.

Availability - Sold out, probably?
Pricing - ??
Rating - 81

Two sibling casks of Old Rhosdhu 1990 by Nectar of the Daily Drams

I reviewed my own bottle of 29 year old Old Rhosdhu a few days ago, and found it to be a solid B grade whisky, no more, no less. That 1993 had two competitors lined up for its tasting: today's two 1990 Old Rhosdhus (possibly "Black Rose" in English). Daily Dram releases usually don't list the cask type, cask number, nor outturn, which is inconveniently odd these days. But they do have a history of good casks, so I was happy to chase down these two sibling cask samples. The 29 year old comes from my friend, Secret Agent Man, and 30 year old arrived via a bottle split. Going into the tasting, I had no idea what to expect.

Old Rhosdhu 29 year old 1990  The Nectar of the Daily Drams 49.6%abv	Old Rhosdhu 30 year old 1990  The Nectar of the Daily Drams 47.3%abv
Fermenting apples and fresh barley arrive first in the nose, followed by kirschwasser, anise, and floral hint. After 30 minutes, Granny Smith apple peels, cherry juice, and a touch of Loch Lomond funk show up.	It noses very young: new make, yeast, and kirschwasser. Then come pretzels, honey, pilsner, a hint of smoke, and LOTS of flowers.
The palate offers strawberries, pears, flowers, and burnt plastic. It gains lemon and mineral notes with time.	That burnt plastic note appears in this palate as well, but now it's wrapped in mango and lemons. Roses, cayenne pepper, and some curious phenols. It gets tangier and sweeter with time in the glass.
It finishes with lemon candy, peppery heat, and a bit of perfume.	The finish goes suddenly bland, nondescript. It's sweet, tangy, floral, and kinda short.
Comments: This one has a great sniffer, but the palate, and certainly the finish, cannot match it. Certainly its own creature, this Old Rhosdhu reads half its age. And, yes, the fruits are the best part!	Comments: Even odder than the 29yo, this 30 feels like it's ⅓ the stated age. It's also the rare whisky whose palate far surpasses its nose, while the finish's fall off is the most disappointing part. Had all the elements matched the initial flavor, this would be nearing a 90-point whisky.
Rating: 84	Rating: 83

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Both inert vessels (hogsheads?) let the spirit do all the walking and talking, which can be a good thing. But there were times, for both whiskies, when there wasn't a whole lot of there there, especially in the finishes. The finish is the weakest part of my own bottle of 29 year old Old Rhosdhu as well. Could this have something to do with the spirit's unusual (1.5x?) distillation process? Does the Black Rose need four or five decades to wake up, much like a single grain? I don't know, but this particular style of Loch Lomond whisky doesn't inspire me to search much further.

Things I Really Drink: Old Rhosdhu 29 year old 1993 WhiskySponge, Ed. 67

It's been ages since I dropped a TIRD on this blog, and now the time is right!

What is "Rhosdhu", really? TWE says it means "rose" in Gaelic, but dhu means "dark" or "black". So perhaps it's "black rose". It is also the name given to two types of whiskies produced at Loch Lomond Distillery. Old Rhosdhu was an unpeated malt whisky that was "1.5 times distilled, as it took a spirit cut from the wash still," and was discontinued in 2000. The new Rhosdhu, a grain whisky made from 100% malted barley, was first distilled in 2007.

1980s and '90s standard Loch Lomond can be impressively foul with a Taco Bell dumpster note leading the nose and palate. So why on Earth did I buy a '90s distilled Loch Lomond product? Because I had it as part of a blind tasting and found it fabulous. Some whiskies have IT, the eternally mysterious, inexplicable, undefinable "YES" quality. This Old Rhosdhu had "IT", so I bought it, and then opened the bottle for my birthday in August. Now I shall review the whisky, knowing its name.

Distillery: Loch Lomond

Style: Old Rhosdhu

Owner: Loch Lomond Distillery Company

Region: Highlands (Western)

Bottler: Decadent Drinks

Range: WhiskySponge

Age: 29 years old (1993 - 2022)

Maturation: refill hogshead

Outturn: 328 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%

(from the top third of my bottle)

NEAT

Ooooh, the nose starts with moss and mango, with oats and blossoms in the background. Donut glaze and apple cider appear after 30 minutes, followed by barley(!) and yuzu juice. The warm, dusty palate leads with dunnage, honey, and lime zest. Honeydew and oranges fill the midground, while hints of pastry and industrial funk whisper in the back. It finishes tartly, think limes and oranges. More honey and barley than ol' tannins.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose shifts a bit towards the apples and oats, with jasmine buds and bananas in the foreground as well. Things get quirkier once the cologne, rye bread, and old oak notes develop. The palate is sweet, yet slightly astringent. More oak. and maybe some sandalwood, too. Pears, caramel, rye bread crust, and pencil shavings arise once the whisky has been aired out for another 20 minutes. It finishes tart and tannic, with minor notes of metal and Werther's candies.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

"IT" seems to have abandoned my bottle, though I still like the whisky. Angus & Co. proofed the cask down to 57.1%abv — which explains the high bottle count — and I do think it's more vibrant at that strength than at 46%. At 57.1% it feels closer to the grain. At 46% the wood starts to take over. The neat nose is utterly lovely, while the palate has just a hint of Loch Lomond weirdness, which works well here. Overall it's more of a thinker than a drinker, which makes one wonder if it'll take on other characteristics towards the bottom of the bottle. I'll report back if it does...

Availability - A few bottles may still exist in Europe
Pricing - it maybe be north of £300 now, though I got it on sale for £220

Rating - 86