Ardmore 19 Year Old 1997 Gordon & Macphail for Maltclan

The boys and girls of the Maltclan whiskyclub presented their newest club bottling at their great festival in Halle (near Brussels). Every visitor was even offered a free dram, which I found very nice indeed. Knowing that more than 500 people visited, this resulted in no less than 15 bottles that were simply given away. Luckily the cask yielded 276 bottles, so there is plenty to go around. At the festival, you paid 100 EUR for a bottle, nowadays that’s 110 EUR.

On the nose, the emphasis is on the sweet malt, toffee and a handful of walnuts, but there is also a delicious trace of smoke that is not just from the peat, but I think also from the cask. If you leave it to breathe for a minute, it will offer up some marzipan and grain cookies, but also some dried apricots. I quite like this. Very aromatic indeed.

The arrival is very, very powerful! This is not for the feint hearted! But once the alcohol has mingled with your saliva, it dances on the palate with touches of baked apples and pears, apricots and… mocha!

The finish is very long and warming, feisty on the spices and smoky. Very good.

Yes, the boys and girls of the Maltclan sure know their stuff. Still available at their club.

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