Things I Really Drink: Ardmore 13 year old 2009 Old Particular, cask DL16594 for K&L Wine Merchants

A sinus infection kept me out of the whisky appreciation business for two weeks. And now back to our story...

It's no secret the K&L crew enjoy extolling their single cask picks, so when DOG — David O-G — shifted gears, describing an unexpected cask pick as weird (4 times), I took notice. I perked up further because that cask was a refill barrel Ardmore.

I opened my bottle about a month ago, when it was a big hit with friends, and have spent considerable time sorting out its contents. It is indeed not the average Ardmore, nor of a particularly familiar peated style, which has made these studies interesting.

Distillery: Ardmore

Ownership: Beam Suntory

Region: Highlands (Eastern)

Independent Bottler: Douglas Laing

Range: Old Particular

Age: 13 years old (July 2009 - September 2022)

Maturation: Refill Barrel

Cask #: DL16594

Outturn: 257 bottles

Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants

Alcohol by Volume: 56.1%
(from the top half of my bottle)

NEAT

Coal + a dash of dunnage + Old Bottle Effect glass & metals = the nose of an old blend, not a teenage modern Ardmore. The smell of metallic rowboats in summer mixes with mild peat smoke in the background. The dense palate blends grapefruit juice, clover honey, and lightly sooty smoke. With time it gets smokier and more bitter citrus rinds arrive. The finish is full of wood smoke, bitter citrus, and a minty hint.

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

Things get crazy here. The nose goes from star anise to straight-up absinthe. It's chalky and briny, with more on sawdust than smoke. Seaweed creeps in after 15 mins. The palate? Peanut butter and dark chocolate. Sooty smoke and salted lemons. Honey and a hint of Thai chiles. It finishes with honey, peanut butter, and yuzu. The smoke gradually turns woodier.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I don't know what happened to this barrel, but I'm happy with the result. Its volume dropped only 10% in 13 years, but when I do the math I find the alcohol volume dipped 17%, while the non-alcohol volume actually went up 8%. This is assuming the bottling strength was Ardmore-standard 63.5%abv. Perhaps I shouldn't assume. Perhaps none of this matters because the whisky works. For this palate.

The whisky itself hasn't become burdensome to drink as I approach the bottle's mindpoint, which is its own small miracle as my Whisky Attention Deficit Disorder usually kicks in before then. Its lasting pleasure is due to its unique nature. It's a strange whisky for a strange winter.

Availability - Available as of the date of this post
Pricing - $59.99
Rating - 88