Ardmore 20 Year Old is a 1996 vintage, lightly peated and double matured in first-fill bourbon casks and ex-Islay casks. An outsider in the NAS-oriented core range and particularly well priced if you look around.
Ardmore 20 yo 1996
(49,3%, OB 2017)
Ardmore 20 yo 1996Nose: nice ashy peat, with a slight chalky note and also a hint of antiseptics. That must be the Islay cask, it’s not something you’d expect in Ardmore. Behind it there’s a ripe fruitiness of melons, sweet lemons, bergamots and honey. Vanilla and light pepper. Menthol cigarettes. Fresh leather (my first school bag).
Mouth: quite oily and fat, with nice fruity notes again (though less tropical). Peaches, pears, lime. Hints of camphor and charcoal. Growing grassy and salty notes towards the end.
Finish: medium long, still quite grassy and briney, with very light herbal notes.
I love the combination of tropical fruitiness and mild peat, so I’m not complaining here. It’s very good, although some would say the salty Islay character makes it less typically Ardmore perhaps. I’d recommend nonetheless, especially since since it’s quite cheap from Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange.
Score: 88/100