In 2007 the release of Ardmore Traditional Cask (46% ABV) was the first official single malt from the Ardmore distillery. A fairly young whisky (one of the early NAS expressions), but it was finished in 125-litre quarter casks which offers a speedy maturation and masks part of its youth. Good value for money made it quite popular in the lightly peated category.
Fast forward to 2014: I reviewed Ardmore Legacy and wrote that it was going to replace Traditional Cask, but they brought it back in 2015 as Ardmore Tradition, still at 46% but only available in travel retail. That’s the one I’m trying today – it was described as an evolution of the Traditional Cask. The availability was suddenly lower but the whisky itself was supposedly more or less the same.
Although Tradition is still mentioned on the Ardmore website, it now seems to be discontinued: it has recently been replaced by another travel retail expression called Ardmore Traditional Peated, now bottled at a lower 40% ABV (boo).
To be honest I find this name play Traditional Cask / Tradition / Traditional a bit lame. If you want to change the name of a product, make it clearly different, otherwise leave the name alone. Now it seems they are intentionally tricking people into thinking they are still buying the popular old version while the composition has probably changed? The ABV certainly has. Just look around: more often than not online shops have a product title that doesn’t match the image that goes along: confusing to say the least.
Ardmore Tradition
(46%, OB 2016, 1 litre)
Ardmore TraditionNose: lightly peated, mainland style, with burnt grass and a bit of a dirty edge at first. Leathery notes. Dark toffee. Gradually becomes more complex, with hints of stewed fruits and a lightly tropical note. Banana bread. Vanilla.
Mouth: good strength, makes the new 40% even harder to grasp. Clean and chiselled, with a vague sweetness (peaches, sweet lemon) and lots of herbal peaty notes. Vanilla. Pepper and ginger heat. Hints of butterscotch.
Finish: medium length, drier and more herbal still, with warm smoke and hints of toasted oak.
Whatever the name: this is nice drinking whisky, with warm peat and an underlying fruitiness. Easy to see why it was popular. More or less € 40 back then, now the Ardmore Traditional at 40% is around € 50. Not just for travel retail apparently.
Score: 84/100