2008 Berry Bros & Rudd Ardmore 9 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Easily one of the finest young malts of the year.

Always quite a peaty style by Highland standards, this expression ups the ante having been matured in x Islay barrels.

Tasting note: Ardmore is a big distillery making a big malt - peated Highland malt to be exact. This one ranks as one of the best to date. It's more wood smoke than Islay, nodding towards top-end Mezcal in its gorgeously fruity-sooty combination. We have to agree with Mr. Murray: What's so outrageously good about this is its balance: Nine years old and cask strength, but leaving you with a creamy explosion of mesquite smoke, charred tropical fruits and dark chocolate that delights the senses. The length is superb, as the fruit vies with the peat until the very end. Easily one of the finest young malts of the year. 52.3% Alc.Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... Confirmation of just what a stupendous distillery this is. For a 9 year old, the balance defies belief. Few single malts under ten years will match this bottling this year.
96.5 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2020

Founded in 1898 by one of Scotland’s most famous whisky families , the Ardmore distillery is settled on the east border of Speyside, between the River Bogie, the Clashindarroch forest and at the edge of the Grampian mountains. Ardmore has a longstanding belief in traditional distilling methods and insist that the aromatic smoke from natural, Highland peat fires is used to dry their malted barley, however the higher cost of this procedure has meant that it's now the only Highland distillery to routinely fully ‘peat’ its standard malt. Ardmore is also typically double matured, first in the more usual oak barrels, and then in much smaller ‘Quarter Casks’, delivering added flavour to the whisky. These were in common use in the 19th century, but are too costly for most distillers to use today.