Ardmore Scotch whisky

The Ardmore distillery is located in the far South-East of
the Speyside region. Actually, this Ardmore isn't the first
distillery to carry the name. Between 1817 and 1835 there
used to be another 'Ardmore' distillery on the island Islay.
That one was closed & incorporated by Lagavulin in 1837.

The current Ardmore distillery is located at the edge of the
Grampian mountains. It was built in 1898 by Adam Teacher,
son of William. Even today, most of the whisky the distillery
produces is reserved for the Teacher's blends which get a
lot of their malty character from the Ardmore malt whisky.
Bottlings of Ardmore as a single malt are relatively rare.

Ardmore was founded during one of the industry booms at the end of the 19th century.
It was actually quite modern at the time; the entire distillery was powered by a single
steam engine and a railway ran alongside the buildings. This was convenient when it
came to the transport of supplies like barley and coal. Until 2002 the stills at Ardmore
were heated by the traditional coal fired furnaces, but like most other distilleries they
use internal heating now.

Ardmore is actually one of the largest distilleries in Scotland.
The distillery has been expanded not once but twice since WWII. The original number of two stills was doubled to four in 1955 and then doubled again in 1974 to a grand total of eight. With a malt storage capacity of +/- 1,000 tonnes, a 25 feet mash tun and 14 wooden wash backs with a total capacity of 90,000 litres the four wash stills receive a constant flow of wash. Like the wash stills, the four copper spirit stills hold 15,000 litres each. All this fancy equipment is responsible for an annual output of (hold on...) more than 3,000,000 litres of pure alcohol each year. Pretty impressive, eh?
 
Even more impressive: they could produce 4,200.000 litres 'on full steam'.
Think about it; if you wanted to you could fill many king size swimming pools with that. But why would you? The malts (and the Teacher's blend) are much better suitable for drinking than for swimming. Well, at least I assume they are; I've got quite some experience in the drinking department but I've never actually tried the swimming...

Until the 1970's barley was malted on the premises, but like so many other distilleries the Ardmore distillery depends on specialised maltsters these days. Rumour has it that Ardmore uses relatively heavily peated barley, which may account for the rich, powerful character of the malt whisky produced there. The original distillery maltings were converted into warehouses and a filling store some time ago, but Ardmore still has its own cooperage.

1) Like many distilleries, Ardmore has a name with Gaelic origins. It means 'big headland'.

2) Ardmore has its own cooperage for the production and repair of casks.

3) Ardmore is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded during the 'whisky boom' of the
late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glen Moray, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.

4) More trivia about Ardmore distillery will be added later...
 

Ardmore NAS 'Traditional Casks' (46%, OB, Peated, finished in quarter casks, Bottled +/- 2008)
Nose: Light, fresh & grainy. Sweetish with a faint hint of peat in the background. Peat grows stronger over time.
Farmy. Perhaps something faintly oily as well. Spices and malty notes too - a well rounded profile.
Even some organics, although this isn't a peat monster. Something faintly fruity too. Anthracite?
Taste: Much smokier than the nose suggests. Fairly sharp and not as complex as the nose would suggest.
In fact, the palate is a little unsatisfactory. Touch of liquorice or salmiak in the finish. No peat monster.
Score: 82 points - works a lot better than the Ardbeg 'Blasda' that was released around the same time.

Ardmore 12yo 1994/2007 (46%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#578+598, 745 Bts.)
Nose: Fairly sharp at first, settling down after a minute. I would have guessed overproof here.
Subtle spicy notes pop up from under the grainy and 'veggy' base. Grows fattier; 'Appelflappen'.
Taste: Quite harsh initially, sweetish followed by a trace of peat (?). Vague hints of apple.
A fairly rough mouth feel. Long but nondescript finish. Not a lot of cask influence it seems.
Score: 79 points - interesting but also very subtle. Better than average but not for everybody.

Ardmore 1987/2003 (45%, G&M for La Maison du Whisky)
Nose: Hey, that's different... Once again, furniture polish - but quite subdued.
There appears to be a hint of oil, but it's good olive oil instead of cod oil. Clay?
Malted barley. Peculiar aroma's under the layer of grainy sweetness in the nose.
Peppermint. Organics. It's a bit of a 'dichotomic' malt with a dark side to it.
Spices and organics. Wet dog in the background. Hey, is that a hint of peat?
Taste: Smooth and balanced. Slowly dries out. This has a fabulous mouth feel.
Smooth and pleasant on the palate, before turning much drier. Smokier as well?
At times I thought I found traces of smoke and peat, but I wasn't quite sure.
After five minutes I was finally sure; there is some peat in here - but not a lot.
Score: 84 points - this packs quite a punch, but without the peaty burn of an Islay malt.
Hurray, this is one of the first Ardmores I got really excited about. Great stuff.

Ardmore 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Unchillfiltered, 70cl)
(Distilled 31/05/1990, matured in bourbon casks #6360/61, bottled 31/05/2001, bottle #57 of 642)
Nose: Quite restrained in the beginning. A little spicy, with hints of ripe pears. Well balanced.
Soft honey and toffee notes appear after a while. Pleasant, but it has relatively little character.
Taste: Malty. A hint of peat after a while? Smooth. Sweetish in the start, but not in the finish.
Score: 71 points - in this case Ardmore doesn't quite live up to its reputation.

Ardmore 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Unchillfiltered, 70cl)
(Distilled 31/05/1990, matured in bourbon cask #6367, bottled 12/12/2001, bottle #20 of 323)
Nose: Lemon, apple, pear & other fruits. Light. Something nutty. Very nice indeed.
Pleasant organics after a while. Veggy - a little too much so for my tastes, in fact.
Taste: Sweetish and slightly gritty. Vegetables. Not as pleasant as the nose.
Score: 78 points - above average, but not enough to make it 'recommendable'.

Ardmore 1985/2000 (40%, G&M OB, sample from Serge)
Nose: Sweetish, creamy and slightly oily at first. An old, dried out Golden Delicious.
Very faint spices in the background, developing into organics. Holly? Petrol? Peat?
The peaty component grows stronger with time, although it never reaches Islay levels.
Taste: Yeah, there's definitely a pinch of peat in here - but not much and it doesn't last.
Smoky. Pleasant, but rather flat. That being said, it packs quite a punch at just 40%.
Score: 80 points - I had it a few points higher until the watery finish dragged it down.

Ardmore 21yo 1979/???? (50%, Douglas Laing OMC 0345, DL266, November 1979)
Nose: Quite mellow, growing creamier and oilier. Surprisingly restrained at first. Maggi?
After the first peaty punch on the palate the nose suddenly seems to open up as well.
More organics and a hint of smoke emerge and grow more complex with time. Chalk.
Taste: Wow! A very sweet start, quickly followed by an unexpected peaty punch.
Quite amazing; one of the most satisfying palates I've encountered this year. Lovely.
Sweet, smoky and solid from start to finish. Liquorice. Easily mistaken for an Islay malt.
After a few drops of water the fruit and wood come to the surface. Like Lagavulin 16yo!
Score: 90 points - and for once a malt earns this score mainly on the palate. Earlier experiences with Ardmore never quite convinced me that this was the highly underrated malt many people rave about - most of them scored between 78 and 82 points. That can be translated as 'good but not spectacular'. Well, this one IS spectacular; simply the very best Ardmore I ever tried. Especially the palate is highly addictive. This is the first expression I tried at a strength of more than 46%, so maybe I need that extra proof to lift these peaty traits upwards.

Ardmore 21yo 1977/1999 '100th Anniversary' (43%, OB)
Nose: Sherry fruits and a whiff of smoke. A classic profile, growing bolder with time.
It's not terribly complex at first, but it opens up with time. Hint of marzipan?
Taste: Hmmm. A tad perfumy in the start, growing smoother and sweeter.
Chewy. Fruitier after a little while. Some smoke as well? Oh yes, definitely.
A little bitter and winey in the finish. Something 'piney' as well. Hint of menthol?
Score: 82 points - the nose justifies a score in the upper 80's, but the palate doesn't.
It's clear that I'm not as big an Ardmore fan as some of the other malt maniacs.
This one somehow reminded me of a Bowmore, although it isn't quite as peaty.

Ardmore 1981/1995 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, code IE/AEF, 70cl)
Nose: Nice! Deep sherry with something very pleasant that I can't put my finger on.
A hint of oranges and soap perfume. Something that feels 'sparkly' in the nose as well.
Taste: Very nice. Smooth and sweet like whipped cream. A treat for your tonsils.
A decent malty burn, followed by a relatively short, dry finish. Very drammable.
Score: 78 points - better than average but hardly spectacular.
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Ardmore I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most malts I've sampled and scored - but finding notes on a specific expression could be tricky. You might want to use the search box at the top of this page for that. The mAlmanac now contains personal selections of the best and the worst single malts I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value.

But those are all just my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.
 

2002 - In 2002 Ardmore was one of the last distilleries in Scotland to switch from coal firing (direct heating) to steam heating (indirect heating).

2005 - Beam Global Spirits & Wine (a.k.a. Jim Beam Brands) purchases a number of distilleries and brands from Allied, including the Laphroaig distillery on islay. They manage their distilleries via the 'Fortune Brands' company.

2007 - the first official bottling in quite some time is launched; the Ardmore 'Traditional Casks'.