Ardmore Traditional Cask
Why I decided to get a white carpet for my “library”/whisky room is, in retrospect, beyond me. Quite apart from the fact that it is tasteless, how did I not stop to think something along the lines of “hang on a minute… I’ve never owned a white item of clothing which hasn’t been, within the first 3 times of wearing it, horribly stained. Perhaps a white carpet isn’t a great idea?” Regardless of how silly a decision it was, here I am, with a stained carpet, a bottle of Vanish Oxi Action and.. Ah, is that Ardmore Traditional Cask I spot, hidden at the back of the bottom shelf? It is! And I haven’t even opened it yet. Well, I guess there’s only one responsible thing to do.
With the Vanish safely tucked away where I won’t have to face it again for a while, let’s see what this forgotten bottle of Ardmore has to offer, shall we? First of all I must say that I hate the box it comes in, but I quite like the bottle due to the simplicity of its label. I also love the color of this whisky; it looks like liquid caramel – which could be slightly misleading, because it certainly isn’t sweet and girly! The nose is fairly straight forward with only a few notes present; smoke, peat, alcohol (not in a bad way) and bourbon (thus vanilla).
The palate is quite impressive for a whisky in its price range (around $30) and is definitely not for the fainthearted! Lots of peat and smoke here, which you may not be used to this price segment, but there is also a lovely vanilla sweetness and some dried fruit in there. The aftertaste brings with it a slightly creamier note (the body itself is fairly light) and just a touch of spice. Most people will probably prefer this with a dash of water or perhaps a couple of ice cubes, which is certainly allowed in this case.
Definitely worth a shot if you want a decently priced, smoky whisky.
Color: Liquid caramel.
Nose: Simple – smoke, peat, alcohol and bourbon.
Taste: Light – peat, smoke, vanilla, dried fruit. Aftertaste slightly creamier with some spice.
Want to buy this whisky? Available in: USA & World (click), UK & Europe (click)
