Review by: Raygun

Ardnamurchan is of course the new-ish Highlands distillery owned by Adelphi. They’ve just celebrated 10 years. Heard a lot of buzz about them, but I’ve only tried a couple as yet. I’m rather thankful this America-only release doesn’t use their numbering scheme, which frankly I find pretty incomprehensible. As usual, reviewed completely blind at first, with additional notes after the reveal in italics. Thanks to Dustbunna for the sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

---

Distillery: Ardnamurchan  

Bottler: Ardnamurchan    

Region/style: Highlands single malt whisky

ABV: 57.3%. Cask strength

Age: NAS. Bottled in 2024. 

Cask type: Two Madeira barriques containing peated spirit and one Oloroso butt with unpeated. 900 bottles.      

Color: 1.5 auburn. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

---

Nose: Looked like sherry, smells like sherry. It’s probably a sherry cask. Oloroso mustiness, chocolate, tobacco, and almonds. Barely any fruit to be found. I still don’t pick up much peat, but there is some mushroom rancio.

Palate: Well hello. Even better on the palate. Oozes chocolate, pastry cream richness, almond butter, even sesame paste. Some dates and figs show up to add a little fruitiness, but this is mostly about the chocolate and nutty flavors. Which I am here for. I’ll take some more, thank you. Still not getting much peat, even when it’s probably about half the contents. There is some earth to it, and mushrooms.

Finish: Tastes like 46%, 50% tops. More rich, chocolatey goodness. Black sesame paste, almonds, and a bit of salinity. Not overly sweet, but dessert-like nonetheless. Definite pastry aspect to it, like a brioche. Still can’t believe it’s 57%; drinks much lower. Salinity is a little more intense now.

---

Guess: Scotch, mainly sherry cask, around 14 years, and 46-50%. Maybe one of those Signatory Un-chillfiltered bottlings? Kind of feels like a vatting rather than single cask, but then I can’t think what it could be. Feels richer than Glengoyne, not quite old enough for Bunnahabhain 18 (though it reminds me of Bunna in many respects). Doesn’t taste like Glendronach. Maybe there’s an obvious candidate I’m not thinking of.    

Post-reveal thoughts: Once again way off on the ABV and overestimated the age. Otherwise, not bad. I did pick up that it’s a vatting containing a good portion of Oloroso sherry, though not the Madeira casks. Ardnamurchan never occurred to me, but I’m not shocked by that. 

Conclusion: Best of the small amount of Ardnamurchan I’ve tried. I’m impressed with what they manage to do even with young whisky. Not a young note to be found. Also surprised to learn that it’s got such a high proportion of Madeira casks, a cask type I have historically not got on well with. Here it works. The nutty aspect comes out strongly, and it complements the sherry very well. This is mainly a western US release, but if I came across a bottle I’d sure think about it.    

Score: 83

---

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)