Ardlair 11-year-old (D.2011, B.2022) The Ultimate / 65.5% / 0.7l

Ardlair is one of two single malts produced by Ardmore Distillery in the Highlands.

This large distillery, built by Wm Teacher & Sons in 1898, consistently produces a smoky-peated whisky (phenol concentration in malt is around 15 ppm). The plant is part of Beam Suntory and also distills a completely unpeated whisky, Ardlair, for the needs of the group's blends, which it does not officially offer as a single malt. The Ardlair presented here, distilled on 27 January 2011, spent over 11 years in a refilled sherry butt no. 900038, and was bottled by the Dutch The Ultimate Whisky Company at 65.5% abv, natural colour and without chill filtration on 13 October 2022 in an edition of 555 bottles. The Ultimate was established in 1994 and is based in Amersfoort.

Nose: vanilla cream, milk chocolate, salted caramel, red apples, plums, peaches, cappuccino, milk chocolate, a pinch of cinnamon and light herbal notes.

Palate: caramel, toffee, vanilla, butter cookies, apples, raisins, oranges, walnuts, milk chocolate, nutmeg, black pepper and oak.

Finish: quite long, with notes of caramel, honey, roasted nuts and almonds, milk chocolate, black pepper and a fleeting trace of peat.