At WhiskyFest New York last week, a friend at the Ardmore table let me have a wee dram of an Ardmore 25 year old whisky that will be available at Travel Retail (formerly Duty Free), but not the U.S. He pulled out a small dram from his own private stash.
I really liked it!
It was at a higher strength (above 50%) and had a good dose of peat smoke combining with the oak and other Ardmore flavors. I didn’t take notes on it. All I remember was how good it was!
So, for all of you who ask me what to bring back when traveling overseas, here’s one to buy.
Hi John,
interesting. Do they have two horses at the race?
http://www.moodiereport.com/document.php?c_id=31&doc_id=19193
Ya know, I thought he told me 21 year old, but I might be mistaken. He poured the whisky from a bottle that was well-concealed underneath his table. I never got to see the label.
John, how does this ardmore, or any for that matter, compare to the peated benriachs?
The standard “Ardmore Traditional Cask” tastes younger (and greener) than the Benriach releases. I have not tasted them side-by-side, but my feeling is that this new Travel Retail bottling is comparable in quality to the best older pleated Benriachs. I liked it that much.
John,
The Ardmore I sampled you with at WhiskeyFest NY was the 25y/o Ardmore that we released into GTR at the Cannes TFWA event a few weeks ago.
As you said, not for the US market – although there is another vintage release due shortly for the US market only…..
Slainthe
Alistair Longwell (Ardmore Distillery)
Thanks Alistair. I made the correction to my original blog to reflect this.