Ardnamurchan Sherry Cask 2023

As theorized in my review of Ardnamurchan AD 2018, it's possible that the "outsized premium" on each of Adelphi's bottlings from the past decade has gone towards subsidizing the construction and upkeep of this Western Highlands distillery. That's nobler and less exploitative than the general "let's wring every last dollar from every apparently-expendable member of our customer base" approach of many other independent and official bottlers. Did I just call Adelphi "noble"? I probably should have written this review while sober.

Anyhoo, here's something about Ardnamuchan's 2023 Sherry Cask release.

Distillery: Ardnamurchan
Owner: Adelphi

Region: Way Out West Highlands

Age: NAS

Maturation: Oloroso and PX sherry casks

Bottling Date: 2023

Outturn: 13,998 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltration? No
Colorant? No
(thank you to Doctors Springbank for the sample!)

NOTES

Something sulphuric and cheesy shows up in the nose for the first few moments. It fades away, revealing dried apricots, toasted almond, and toasted coconut. A little bit of moss and maple syrup join dried cherries and currant juice.

The palate is earthy, savory, sweet, grassy, and vegetal for the first 15 minutes. It gets sweeter as it picks up orange candy and dates.

The peat appears in the finish. There's smoked peanuts, earthy residue, and a hint of lapsang souchong, while minty candy and dates offer brightness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though this whisky is supposed to be only 5-ish years old, it's the most complete Ardnamurchan single malt I've tried so far. Much that has to do with the casks, but this isn't a one-dimensional sherried blast. It has edges, curves, and straight lines. (I just wrote that.) Hell, it's an actual whisky at 5-ish years old. Not many distilleries offer that.

Availability - Europe
Pricing - $70-$110

Rating - 84

Ardnamurchan AD/03.21:02

The first time Ardnamurchan appeared on this site, its product wasn't even a legal whisky, rather a wild, weird 1-year-old spirit. Adelphi's distillery now makes actual single malts, more than 80 of them as per Whiskybase, one of which has hit the 10-year-old mark this year. Scotland's most westerly distillery produces peated and unpeated spirit with a variety of fermentation times (72-120 hours), usually using Concerto barley.

Today's drink is an actual whisky, a single malt, that mixes the peated and unpeated spirits, as well as bourbon and sherry casks. The numbers stand for the bottling date (03.21 = March 2021) and the batch number (02) for the year.

Distillery: Ardnamurchan
Owner: Adelphi

Region: Way Out West Highlands

Age: NAS

Maturation: 65% bourbon casks, 35% sherry (oloroso and PX) casks

Bottling Date: March 2021
Alcohol by Volume: 46.8%
Chillfiltration? No
Colorant? No
(thank you to Doctors Springbank for the sample!)

NOTES

"Young" isn't a great tasting note, so I'll try to provide specifics. The nose is yeasty and floral, with bubblegum and Play-Doh notes. Cinnamon sticks and sour apple candy fill out the middleground, and a pretty white peach note awaits in the back. It gets more perfumed with time.

The palate is very sweet, with lumber, vanilla, yeast, and almond extract. Most of those notes fall away after 30+ minutes, leaving behind a raw, floral eau de vie.

It finishes like a flower blossom and cinnamon stick infused simple syrup.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

While this is a considerable improvement over the 2018 AD spirit, it still has a Craft whisky palate. The delightful nose, though, shows lots of promise. I'm not sure of its age, but if it's 3-4 years old at this point, then it should be quite a thing at 10+ years. Then again, that's just a guess, because no two spirits act the same, and every Master Distiller/Blender/Executive has a mind of their own. Good luck, Adelphi.

Two more Ardnamurchans to follow...

Availability - It's still around, 3 years later
Pricing - $65-$75

Rating - 77

Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength (2022 edition)

Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength was never broken, but in 2022 Diageo decided to "fix" it anyway, adding virgin oak casks to the always reliable refill casks. Were they running short on refills? Otherwise.....??????

The venn diagram of Lagavulin Geeks (A) and People Who Love New Oak Scotch (B) looks something like this:

pic source

If you couldn't tell before, much of the current Scotch whisky business baffles me. For instance, I did not spring for the 2023 edition of this whisky, as it was finished in Don Julio tequila casks. 😐

Anyway, like this week's other two Lagavulins, today's bottle was part of a Columbus Scotch Night event.

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Region: Southern Islay
Maturation: a mix of refill bourbon casks and virgin oak casks

Age: minimum 12 years

Bottling year: 2022
Alcohol by Volume: 57.3%

Chillfiltered? probably not
e150a? probably not

(from the bottom half of my bottle)

NEAT

The nose arrives nice and lean, with oats, yeast, dirty hay, and fish market. Dark chocolate and charred beef fill the background, while barley and metal run through the edges. No new oak, nor mezcal appear in the palate, hurray! Instead it's made of kelp, charred veg, minerals, candied lemon peel, wood smoke, and extra salty dashi. The smoke rolls in heaviest in the finish, surrounding salty kelp and lemons.

DILUTED to ~48%abv, or >1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose reads louder, but simpler. Lots of cereal grains, brinier smoke, and a bouquet of citrus blossoms. The palate gets sweeter, but still massively salty. Smoky residue mingles with cinnamon and sugar toast. Sweet and simple in the finish too: peat smoke, salt, and simple syrup.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This was my favorite of the 3 during the group event, but in the head-to-head-to-head tasting at home, this was a near draw with the standard 16. The 12's nose is as stellar as ever, and the salty neat palate is great, so there's very little sign of the new oak when the whisky is at full strength. Lagavulin is a tough beast to tame. But things get very sugary once water is added, more so than any of the other 8(?) editions I've tried. I'm currently enjoying another pour right now, so it's clearly not a tragic whisky, but I'm going to wait to see what happens with future editions before I buy anymore Laga 12s. Hopefully the recipe returns to its old form, and Lagavulin steers away from a Laphroaig-like descent into cask fuckery,

Availability - Wherever fanciest people buy single malts
Pricing - Europe: $120-$170 w/o tax; Japan: $120-$150; and USA: $140-$200(!) w/o tax

Rating - 88 (when neat)

Lagavulin Distillers Edition (2023, USA)

Though it's my least favorite of the Lagavulin Power Trio (16, 12 CS, and DE) each year, I'm always up for trying the Distillers Edition. To my palate, its PX casks smother almost all of the Lagavulin goodness. But it's never a bad whisky.

And though it's never had an official age statement, the DE always had a vintage listed, as well as the release year, on its label. It was 16-18 years old, until 2020 it dropped to a 14-15yo. That lasted only one more year, and then in 2022 Diageo removed the vintage, the bottling year, and the batch number from the packaging. Now it's an NAS thing.

That certainly doesn't inspire confidence in someone who's struggled with the whisky in the past. But I did pick up a bottle as part of a Lagavulin event at Columbus Scotch Night this year. Luckily I was able to spot a bottle code. Of course I didn't take a picture of it, and just wrote down "2023". Useful!

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Region: Southern Islay
Maturation: bourbon casks first, then Pedro Ximenez casks

Age: NAS, so 3 years minimum

Bottling year: 2023
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? Yes
e150a? Yes

(from the bottom third of my bottle)

NOTES

Notes of coal smoke, metal, and wet sheep mix with almond butter, dried cherries, and mint candy in the nose. After 30ish minutes, orange peels and dried oregano join in.

The palate is sweeter than the nose leads one to anticipate, but it's not as sweet as some earlier bottlings. Loads of sea salt and mild peat balance out the dried currants and dried pineapple. A little bit of grape jam and limes appear later, but the salt never backs off.

It finishes with smoky dark chocolate, tart limes, dried pineapple, and all that salt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

"My favorite Laga DE?" is at the bottom of my handwritten notes. Perhaps it's just me. I finally gave up expecting a whisky similar to its Lagavulin siblings, and just accepted it on its own terms. The salt and fruit work together, and the PX doesn't separate from the malt. I would absolutely drink this again, though I'd still take the 16 (which is cheaper) and the 12 CS (which is not) first, but the enthusiasm gap isn't as wide as before. That's a win.

Availability - Wherever fancier people buy single malts
Pricing - Europe: $85-$160 w/o tax; Japan: $100-$130; and USA: $120-$160 w/o tax

Rating - 86

Lagavulin 16 year old (2023)

You're asking yourself, "Didn't he just do a Lagavulin 16yo Triple Taste Off?" And the answer is yes, "just" 2½ years ago. The thing is, I have (or rather, had) a 700mL of Lagavulin 16 that was bottled 11 months ago, so it's almost relevant! That bottle was part of a Lagavulin trio I brought to a Columbus Scotch Night event a couple months ago. The other two Lag reviews will also post this week. First, lemme see if this whisky is any good.....

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Region: Southern Islay
Maturation: ???

Age: minimum 16 years

Bottle code: L3237CM002 00009917
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? Yes
e150a? Yes

(from the bottom third of my bottle)

NOTES

The nose begins with a familiar mix of moss, brine, and coal smoke. Notes of baked peaches, brown sugar, and ham drift beneath. After 30+ minutes, seaweed, soot, and a whiff of manure appear.

This has one of the loudest L16 palates I've ever experienced, with savory, salt, and kiln leading the way. Then picture Talisker's pepper, quadruple it and smoke it. Milder notes of mint, lemon, almond cookies, and sugar cookies barely sneak around the dark wall.

The finish, quite long for a chillfiltered 43%abv whisky, is made of seaweed, brine, kiln, almond cookies, lemon, and salted licorice.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

In 2022's Lagavulin 16 year old Triple Taste Off, I expressed concern about the thinness and sweetness in a 2018 bottling. I do not have that concern with today's bottle from batch L3237CM002. While not as complex as many older bottlings, it's a surprising powerhouse that slugs above its weight, swatting away current batches of Ardbeg and Laphroaig 10s with ease. Reassured that some classics still kick ass, I would be happy to get another bottle, though I prefer Europe's price over Ohio's ($105).

Availability - Wherever fancy people buy single malts
Pricing - Europe: $65-$100 w/o tax; Japan: $60-$90; and USA: $85-$125 w/o tax

Rating - 88

Balblair 25 year old (+/- 2023)

Thanks to the generosity of The Doctors Springbank, I was able to try Balblair 18 year old, 21 year old, and 25 year old side by side. They all have the same professional presentation (46abv/nc/ncf), and similar primary and secondary maturations (American oak, then Spanish oak butts). Probably due to its relative youth, the 18 year old has the best balance of spirit and oak; meanwhile, the 21yo flashes tropical fruits on its stellar nose. Would the 25 year old measure up to its dispiriting (especially in the USA) price tag, whomping the 18 and 21???

Distillery: Balblair

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands

Age: minimum 25 years old

Maturation: Primary - ex-bourbon casks (American oak), Secondary - first-fill butts (Spanish oak)

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(thank you, Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

The nose immediately feels heftier with its toasted oak resting upon the fruits and florals. Eucalyptus, walnuts, and talcum powder up top. Apple cider, orange candy, and baked pear in the middle. Anise somewhere around the edges. Curiously, this nose peters out faster than the 18's and 21's. The sweet and spicy palate mixes nectarines with ginger powder, apple sauce with lime juice and cayenne. Near the 30 minute mark, California pinot noir pushes right to the fore. It finishes with the nectarines, apples, and limes, though toasted almonds and wine-like tannins stick around the longest.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

It's a good thing that wealthy folks like oak, because that's what the current whisky market offers for the dollar/pound/euro/etc. I like this 25, but the tropicals are gone, the stone fruits make only brief cameos, and something winey starts happening in the mouth. It's also missing the stamina that the 18 and 21 possess. Unless someone needs a tannin fix baked into their Balblair, I'm not sure what the draw is with this whisky. You may even be able to buy the 15, 18, and 21 for about the same price as one bottle of the 25.

Availability - Europe and USA
Pricing - Europe: $425-$625 w/o tax, and USA: $600-$800 w/o tax

Rating - 83

Balblair 21 year old (2023)

The newest member of Balblair's standard range, the 21 year old has more specific specs than rest of the expressions, with 15 years in bourbon casks and six more in first fill sherry butts. While I wouldn't mind a 21yo Balblair with full maturation in the those bourbon casks, I appreciate that the commitment to a full secondary maturation. The 18yo was great, how will this compare???

Distillery: Balblair

Ownership: Inver House (via Thai Beverages plc via International Beverage Holdings Ltd.)

Region: Northern Highlands

Age: minimum 21 years old

Maturation: 15 years in bourbon casks (American oak), then six years in first-fill butts (Spanish oak)

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No

(thank you, Doctors Springbank!)

NOTES

There be tropical fruits here. Guava, passionfruit, and banana in the nose's fore, followed by cherry lollipops and marzipan. Quirkier notes of cumin and cologne adorn the background. The palate is surprisingly (and positively) short on sweetness. Tart citrons mix with salt, pepper, and walnuts, with semisweet chocolate in the back. It gains oranges with time. It finishes with light tannin, oranges, limes, and a hint of the nose's cologne.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

If you bottle a 20+ year old Balblair and it isn't at least delicious, then you need to sit in the corner with a timeout. That goes triple for the distillery itself. I'm happy to say that Inver House Distillers is officially allowed to keep bottling Balblair. Again, the nose wins, but the moderate, lean palate is quite good. Had it possessed the nose's tropical fruits, then this would have been one hell of a whisky. Shame about the price, almost 2.5x that of the 18.

Availability - Europe
Pricing - $270 - $340 w/o tax

Rating - 85