The Ardmore Legacy: A (slight) Return of the Unsung Smoky Hero

From Caskstrength.net

Everyone loves an underdog, don't they. Be it the minnows in the World Cup, or the most unlikely victors (recently Leicester City, known as the Foxes, beat the once mighty Manchester United 5-3, after coming from 3-1 behind) there's something to truly celebrate when a small time player comes from nowhere and trounces the competition.

Now, without patronising a clearly great distillery, The Ardmore, one of only a handful of malt distilleries on the mainland of Scotland to use peated barley in its production, never seems to be on anyone's radar when discussing the best smoky whiskies on the market.

Think Smoke - Think Laphroaig/Ardbeg/Caol Ila/Lagavulin/Bowmore etc and you begin to see a very clear picture of just how Islay has a major stranglehold on the world of peated Scotch whisky (not forgetting Skye's Talisker of course)

All this is fine and whisky makers, marketeers and everyone connected with promoting whisky likes to play on the obvious relevance of 'terroir' when it comes to peated whiskies.  The harsh island climates, the lonely peat bogs - in essence -  it's all encoded deep into the DNA of every Islay/Island whisky story.

But in all the swirls of mist, bottomless black lochs and 110 year-old peat cutters, we seem to have forgotten that great peated whisky can pretty much be made anywhere - not even just in Scotland- look at the mighty Hakushu in Japan and Connemara in Ireland for a global picture. 

Ardmore is one such distillery who has been making a whisky unlike any of their Highland neighbour’s wares. Ardmore Traditional Cask has long been on our list of undiscovered gems and a whisky that we often use to highlight the breadth of flavour when considering a 'peaty' whisky. It very much has its own style and as a result, counterpoints some of the more medicinal beasts from Islay.  

Recently, Ardmore Traditional Cask has been retired, in favour of a brand new whisky, The Ardmore Legacy, taking its place as the Highland challenger to the Islay-dominated smoky crown. 

Legacy continues on a fairly lightly peated trajectory, but don't let this put you off, if you are a fan of the bolder stuff. There's something unique about this whisky that allows it to sit comfortably next to its more medicinal Island brothers, highlighting a whole different world within the concept of peat.  What's more, it sits nicely at under £30 here in the UK....

The Ardmore -  Legacy -  40%

Nose: Fresh pine wood shavings, a hint of coal tar soap, some dry coal dust embers and then something altogether more floral: a sweet, incense note, candifloss and freshly laundered cotton sheets. It's fresh, youthful, but still full of complimentary aromas.  

Palate: A touch of dry oak, some creamy toffee, before the smoke delivers a fresh, almost fruity flavour -  think slightly smoked/charred citrus fruit and you're on the right way. There's a good helping of something a little dryer too, with a woody/bonfire note developing, but any overly dry notes are kept nicely in check here. Given time, some more floral, lavender notes develop, with a milky coffee note. Very well balanced indeed.

Finish: The slightly smoky/creamy coffee notes linger, with a hint of lemon zest returning as your palate dries.

Overall: A cracking introduction to peat if you are new to whisky, but with enough complexity going on to still put a smile on any peat head's face too. At under £30, it also represents a departure to where other whisky companies seem to be heading at the moment, so much so that we'd consider this a cabinet essential. 

Big Birnie & His Older Brother

Seems to be the month of new peated releases, in that earlier on, the new unidentified Peat's Beast arrived on the shelves (with a mixed reaction from us) and hot on the beast's cloven hooves, BenRiach have released a newly labeled Birnie Moss peated single malt and a 25yo Authenticus.

BenRiach is a distillery close to our heart (more exciting news on this later) and the Authenticus has often hit the spot. In its younger, 21yo guise, the whisky reminds one of just how well the distillery do peated whisky and they are unquestionably up there with some of the great Islay malts of the same age. The 25yo follows on from this, but with a extra reserve of refinement.

BenRiach - Authenticus - 25 years Old - 46%

Nose: Some surprising fresh lime notes get this off to a very fruity start. In comes the peat, gentle at first, but building with each sniff, delivering a full bodied sooty/burnt bonfire style peat the further you get in. From here, it is more delicate red berry notes, meringue and fresh cream and a dusting of salted liquorice. Very good indeed.

Palate: The fruit continues to the palate but is pipped to the post by more liquorice spice, that morning-after bonfire air, some heather honey and a big dose of menthol. Rounded and oaky.

Finish: The peat lingers, giving some drier pine smoke notes, but the tongue is still coated with the remnants of fruit and cream.

Overall: A nice way to reprise the Authenticus and a 'must' if you're a fan of the original 21yo.

Next up, the NAS Birnie Moss. On first glance, this looks frighteningly similar (ie very light) to the Peat's Beast, sans the lavish Scarfe-esque illustration.

BenRiach - Birnie Moss - 48%

Nose: First up are crushed multi-vitamins (that slightly off-yeasty note) straight into some very oily peat smoke. There is a little lemon zest and possibly some white pepper in there somewhere, but it is direct, driven and very peaty. Perhaps a little one dimensionsal.

Palate: Creamy, but with a thin mouthfeel. How did they do that? The peat is again upfront, but is this time tempered with some green apple and swathes of vanilla.

Finish: Some honeycomb notes begin to emerge, but the peat keeps a grasp on the palate- the whole experience is short and sharp.

Overall: Clearly a very young whisky, this has promise, but is a little impetuous and one- dimensional. If this were a discussion about racing drivers, the Authenticus, with its balance, grace and refinement is the Sterling Moss to the younger, more aggressive but not fully developed sibling, Birnie.

Mor Please...

A number of friends of mine always stop drinking temporarily for the month of January.

Deciding I needed a little respite, I attempted this about 5 years ago and bizarrely, I ended up teetotal for 6 weeks. Only problem was that my return to alcohol ended in an early bath- one glass of red wine with friends and I was so trollied that I was sternly advised to 'get to bed' by Mrs Caskstrength. Abstinence supposedly makes the heart grow fonder, but to be honest, I decided then to give the whole 'Dry Jan' a wide berth. This year, I felt like a little health kick. So after a temporary foray into fruit cleansing (which proved to be a total let down) I have slowed down the first 2 weeks of January drinking to the odd miniature, when the mood takes me.

Last night, after a particularly stressful day (my faithful companion Bobby had to have his tail amputated...) I fancied something powerful, warming and peaty to lift my spirits. I would usually reach for an Islay at this time, but a miniature of Connemara's Turf Mor arrived shortly before Christmas and i'd been looking for a good reason to open it.

Turf Mor is Connemara's new peated expression - and hellishly peated it is at 58ppm, which puts it squarely in to Islay territory. It's also a very young caskstrength whisky (around 3 years old) so one can immediately expect fireworks.

Connemara - Turf Mor - heavily peated Irish single malt - 58.2% - limited to 20,000

bottles

Nose: Immediate notes of rubber, honeycomb, a blast of medicinal peat and something diesel-like. Not tremendously inviting off the bat, but let it calm down in the glass for 10 minutes and some lighter, vanilla ice cream/ cream soda notes begin to emerge, along with some tangy, zesty jelly sweets (I believe they're called 'Tangfastics'..)

Palate: Hot and tremendously earthy on the first sip, with a slight return of the rubber from the nose. Again, given time, the beast begins to calm down and with a dash of water, some fresh herbs make their presence known, with milk chocolate, a touch of apricot jam and a sooty, dusty aftertaste.

Finish: The sootiness develops into something a lot sweeter, but your mouth is left feeling completely ransacked by the initial earthy peat, with a slight leatheriness in tow.

Overall: This is a bruiser of a dram (rather like the massive ginger tomcat that needed turfing out from my garden this morning) and it may frighten those with a slightly nervous disposition or limited experience of peat. But allow it to settle down and there are a few hidden depths... qualities that Cooley are starting to really understand- and in turn, shovel into their whiskies. A sort of hidden treasure for those who persevere.