Ardmore 23 year old 1997 SMWS 66.195

To be honest, after trying Wednesday's whisky I was feeling ambivalent about drinking one more direct-fired-era Ardmore ruined by SMWS's cask fuckery. Writing bitter reviews can be energizing, but drinking disappointing Ardmore is not.

Then last night I looked at the details for the next two scheduled casks, and saw promising glimmers in their caskwork. So I tried them side-by-side. And I was not disappointed.

Distillery: Ardmore

Region: Highlands (Eastern)
Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 23 years (23 October 1997 - ???)
Maturation: 21 years on a hoggie, then two years in a first-fill Oloroso barrique
Cask#: 66.195, "If these walls could talk!"
Outturn: 275 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 48.7%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

A gorgeous forest-like peat note stands above everything else in the nose; think earth, dead leaves, and mushrooms. Next: a damp dunnage floor. Mellow notes of dates and dried currants. A bit of mesquite smoke appears later on. Similar foresty peat notes appear in the palate, perhaps a bit smokier. But then there's some black coffee, a mild cigar, and bitter chocolate. Sweet oranges and raspberries highlight the background. Tobacco, mild wood smoke, oranges, and dried blueberries fill the finish.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Pulled pork, dried apricots, orange peels, and mild florals now fill the nose. The palate: blacker bitterer coffee, sweet berries, and a dunnage hint. It finishes with bitter coffee, bitter chocolate, and tangy citrus.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This one is okay with me. In fact, the nose is excellent. Despite what the sample bottle label shows in the picture above, this was not an STR cask. And it wasn't a sopping gooey first-fill sherry vessel either. The cask does show up more in the palate, but not tragically so. I'm not sure why so many Ardmore casks drop below 50%abv even before their 20th birthday, but most of them are disarmingly drinkable as a result. This one is no exception. Whew.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Ardmore 23 year old 1997 SMWS 66.191

It's time to continue my exploration into the 20+ SMWS Ardmore sibling casks that were all distilled on the 23rd of October 1997. As I've progressed through these casks, the SMWS numbers and ages have increased. The four I'll review this week are all 23 years old, and have been finished in aggressive-sounding casks. I like the former, not too sure about the latter. First up, an Ardmore with a rejuvenated-cask finish.

Distillery: Ardmore

Region: Highlands (Eastern)
Independent Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society
Age: 23 years (23 October 1997 - ???)
Maturation: hogshead first, then an STR Oloroso barrique finish
Cask#: 66.191, "Smoky dark cajun roux"
Outturn: 240 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 49.2%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts with a gentle nuttiness (hazels and brazils), followed by almond extract and dates. Mushrooms in the middle, peat waaaaaay in the back. Small notes of peach candy and carob show up after 30+ minutes. The palate begins with a mix of vanilla, bitter cocoa, dates, and dried apricots. More peppery than peaty, it also gets sweeter with time. It finishes very sweetly, almost like a mix of ginger ale and cream soda. Lime and wood smoke wait in the background.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or < ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose becomes more sugary: milk chocolate, toffee, cream soda, and ginger candy. Toasted oak fills the middle, black walnuts wait in the back. The palate is as sweet as expected. Caramel and oak spice up front, ginger and lime behind. It finishes with lime, oak spice, and sugar.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I do not understand why anyone would do this to Ardmore single malt. While this whisky is approachable and palatable, especially for a sweet-tooth, it's also generic. The finishing cask neutered whatever was poured into it. It's just X whisky in an STR oloroso cask. What's the point of that? Was the first maturation that bad? Or was SMWS worried that the lean mean Highland machine known as Ardmore wouldn't be loud enough for their customers' palates? This does not fill me with confidence about the other three this week...

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81 (neat only, in the low-to-mid 70s when diluted)

Ardmore 21 year old 1979 Old Malt Cask, cask DL 266

The new year started with snowfall. So yes, 2024, Ice to see you too. It's as good of a time as any to warm up with a week of Ardmore! I have another four SMWSes distilled on 23/10/1997, so by the end of this week I'll have tried nine of the 20-ish sibling hoggies from that date. Yay for me! But before that, let's start off in the 1970s, please.

pic source

Distillery: Ardmore
Region: Highlands (Eastern)
Independent Bottler: Douglas Laing
Range: Old Malt Cask
Age: 21 years (Nov 1979 - Mar 2001)
Maturation: 30th-fill butt?
Cask #: DL 266
Outturn: 648 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It's been 203 days since I used the A-word (and 734 days since I applied it to an Ardmore), so I'm allowed to fish it out now. The austere nose offers up only oats, yeast, horseradish, and slivovitz for the first 30 minutes. Then there's a little bit of lemon, metal, and new carpet. It picks up a nice farmy note around 45 minutes in. Meanwhile, the palate is sweet and lemony, slightly tarry and minty, with some fresh herbs in the background. It gets more oily and industrial with time. Honey, lemons, and oranges appear in the finish, where the whisky is more oily and salty than peaty.

DILUTED to 43%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30ml whisky

Silvovitz and citronella move to the front of the nose, with coconut, honey, and ground cloves in the middle. A little bit of seaweed slips in later. The palate remains sweet and lemony, now with golden raisins, honey, and a whiff of wood smoke in the back. It finishes with honey, salt, and cayenne pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This wasn't what I expected, though I probably should have due to the Ardmore's very light color. The nose is quite lean and raw at times, but in a good way. It certainly isn't a contemporary style. Going a different direction, the palate is sweetie pie with only a suggestion of complexity in the background. This would be a interesting bottle to sit with and mull over for a year or two, but because it was bottled almost 23 years ago, I'm just going to have to fantasize about that.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 86

Caol Ila 29 year old 1990 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 19/126 for Taiwan

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

You didn't think I was going to leave you with just a bunch of teenage Caol Ilas, did ya? 2024's Caol Ila cluster will be more varied and may include some older stuff because this year's CI mini-cluster has left me with mixed feelings, much like 2023 itself. There were a few very good pours in the bunch, but I'm a bit troubled by the aggressiveness from the majority of the casks here. To experience such oak-juice-styled whiskies from two classic independent bottlers leaves me even less interested in buying whiskies blindly now. Of course, once I sample anything good here, the whisky has been sold out for years. So my bottle purchases will remain happily moderate.

Back to the whisky at hand. It's time to wrap up this mini-cluster with a 29 year old refill hoggie from the Port Askaig distillery. Life was pretty good when I was 29 and full of spirit, so my expectations of this whisky are cautiously optimistic. That makes sense to me.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 29 years (1990 - 12 July 2019)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Cask #: batch 19/126
Outturn: 219 bottles
Exclusive to: Taiwan
Alcohol by Volume: 51.7%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose centers on a graceful mix of sandalwood, peaches, apricots, almond extract, and bonfire embers. Notes of citronella, saline, and black walnuts arrive after 45 minutes. The palate is full of toasty goodness (nuts, oak, peat), lemon candy, cara cara oranges, and guava juice. Its smoke drifts between bonfire, barbecue, and seaweed styles over time. There's sooooo much citrus in the finish, as well as a few dried apricots and dried apples too. The barbecue-ish smoke lingers in the background.

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

Smoke rolls into the nose darker and sootier now, with citronella and pineapple beneath. Smaller notes of brown sugar and ocean appear later. There's less fruit and heftier smoke on the palate. It's sweeter and more acidic as well. It finishes with lemons, salt, wood smoke, and a slight bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

In lieu of finishing my personal life on a high note on the last day of 2023, I'm ending this year’s whisky tastings with a gem. I adore this stuff, in fact the first note I wrote about the palate is, "Oh shit." Period included. Once diluted, it's good, but when neat it's fabulous. A sucker for the guava, peaches, sandalwood, seaweed, and black walnuts, I am raising my second glass of this Caol Ila to you my great readers and wishing you all a lovely 2024.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 91 (neat)

Caol Ila 16 year old 2002 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 8380

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

After a slew of sherry cask Caol Ilas, this cluster's final three members are sherry-less. Yesterday's first-fill bourbon barrel was a sweetie pie. Tomorrow's refill hoggie is ??????. Today's CI comes from another first-fill barrel, and I'm really hoping the US oak doesn't overpower the Islay goodness. Wish me luck.....

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 16 years (9 September 2002 - 23 April 2019)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 8380
Outturn: 206 bottles
Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 54.9%
(bottle split with My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT

Ah, different than yesterday's barrel. The peat takes front stage in the nose with ocean, seaweed, earth, and a slight vegetal edge. Notes of orange peel, biscotti, and blueberry scone brighten and expand the experience. Biscotti shows up again the palate, along with almond butter, but it's the pristine combination of salt, wood smoke, and lime that lead the way. The long finish is all kiln, salt, and lime.

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

The barrel sneaks up a little more at this dilution level. The nose now offers sugar cookies, cloves, black walnuts, and gentler peat. The palate becomes sootier and meatier, with more citrus and pepper. It finishes mossy, salty, tangy, and savory.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Classic Islay. Yeah, that's a generic conclusion, but this Caol Ila is comforting, familiar, reliable, and very good. I prefer it neat, where its leanness works best on my palate. The salt + kiln notes provide a strong frame for the other characteristics that pass through. It must be a great whisky to enjoy during an evening at the beach.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Caol Ila 14 year old 2003 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 18/005

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

There have been a lot of sherry casks in this Caol Ila mini-cluster, so today's single malt, honed in a first-fill bourbon barrel, may be a nice change of pace. I'm hoping the 14 years it spent in American oak was enough time for the spirit develop, but so much that the barrel overwhelms its contents.

Sorry, that's it for the brilliant intro today, I've got two more CIs to consume!

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 14 years (2003 - 9 March 2018)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: Batch 18/005
Outturn: 192 bottles
Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 56%
(bottle split with My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT

Yep, big spirit and big oak in the nose. There's the brine, seaweed, soot, and crumbling old rubber on one level; cinnamon roll, shortbread biscuits, and vanilla bean on another; lemon vinaigrette and orange marmalade on a third. Warm beachy peat meets sugar cookies in the palate, with hints of cream soda and raspberry jam in the background. It finishes similarly, with the berry fruitiness and beachy peat. It gains more seaweed with time.

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

Here are the nose notes in the order they arrived: soot, cream soda, fennel seed, new sneakers, and biscotti. There's a pair of pairs in the palate: vanilla ice cream and eucalyptus, then cherry cough syrup and a cigarette. It finishes with more salt and pepper on the peat, and a dash of almond extract.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This cask got really close to being overbaked. Thankfully, Caol Ila's stills cranked out a powerful poison that didn't collapse under the barrel char. It is more of a dessert CI than anything else. One could match it with Walker's shortbread, or dark chocolate and dried fruit, or all the above.

Tomorrow: another first-fill bourbon barrel, with two more years on it. Will it survive? Stay tuned.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 86

Caol Ila 14 year old 2005 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 17600504

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

So far from G&M: a refill butt that read like a first fill, and first fill butts that tasted like refills. Today's G&M CI twist? A refill sherry hoggie! Ah yes, the spice of life......or the spice of an aggressively toasted cask? Which will it be?

This is the first of a trilogy of Caol Ilas that I split with Mr. Opinions early in the Covid Age. The other two will follow...

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 14 years (21 February 2005 - 3 April 2019)
Maturation: refill sherry hogshead
Cask #: 17600504 - Batch 19/052

Outturn: 327 bottles

Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 55.6%

(Many thanks to My Annoying Opinions!)

NEAT

This one's nose elicited a Kool Aid Man's "Oh Yeah" from me upon the first sniff. It starts with brine, moss, and oysters. Then lemon bars, mint leaf, and bay leaf. A little bit of cocoa powder in the background too. The VERY lemony palate dishes out mild sweets and peats. Tart raspberries rolled in fruity cinnamon. Sea salt and a dash of bitter herbs. It finishes with lemons and dried herbs, and a killer combo of sweet, salt, and soot.

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

The nose shifts a little bit here. Dried apricots and a hint of lychee meet butterscotch and a whiff of toffee. Something like peated fennel seed floats through the background. This diluted palate is more "-er" than the neat one, as in sweeter, bitterer, sharper, inkier, and seaweedier. Moderate sooty peat meets perky sweet citrus in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This gets very close to Goldilocks territory. (Goldie hit the Caol Ila pretty hard after her long prison stint for B&E.) It's just right. The spirit is older now, holding onto its pleasures while beginning to soften and take on subtle notes from the cask. I would have adored a bottle of this, so cough it up, Opinions, I know you have another one in there! The price was high, but so is the quality.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $140, I think
Rating - 89