Review by: Raygun

A quick note before anything else for the sake of transparency. This review was done with an industry sample provided free of charge, with no expectations beyond drinking them. As always, I do my best to provide my unbiased opinion, and readers can decide how they want to take this review. For more information, see our Ethics & Transparency statement.

The Artist Series is a yearly line of high-end single casks from LMDW featuring bespoke labels by a contemporary artist. This 13th series has labels by Iris Scott. It’s a very pricey series, and hence I hadn’t had any before. Was fortunate enough to get a full set of samples of this year’s to be able to try them. I’ve reviewed the Tamdhu and Glen Garioch, and both were excellent. This Ardmore is the youngest of this year’s and the most reasonably priced by far. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes. 

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Distillery: Glen Garioch   

Bottler: La Maison du Whisky   

Region/style: Highlands single malt Scotch

BV: 56.8%. Cask strength.   

Age: 13 years. Distilled in 2009 and bottled in 2023. 

Cask type: Hogshead, 208 bottles.

Color: 0.6 yellow gold. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

Price: About $200

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Nose: Mild peat, lemon, and peanuts, which is something I’ve noticed in Ardmore before. Cereal and hay.                

Palate: Nice bit of lemon and cereal. Peanut butter again, like peanut butter cookies. Baked apples. There’s a nice tart aspect here that I like. The peat is very mild to me, but brings a savory and earthy aspect.      

Finish: Cereal, caramel, peanut butter. Again a nice tartness, green apple maybe. Not so much lemon here. Pretzels.  

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Conclusion: Ardmore hasn’t wowed me before, and it’s not now. It’s nice, but I can’t say it’s special. I’m not that sensitive to peat and a peat level like Ardmore (12-14ppm) is pretty subtle to me, as it is here. I find it on the palate a little more than the nose. Adds a little savory and earthy flavor more than obvious smoke.  

Buy a bottle? Price is again an issue. This is much more expensive than other IB Ardmore with similar specs, and there’s nothing to justify it in my opinion.

Score: 77

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)