Ardmore 2000/17 Years Old/Golden Cask #CM242

@jerryclyde thank you for your review. It's good to see you back posting!

Hi Victor: Yes, it's been a while. I came down with some strange auto immune ailment which put me out of circulations for about four months. Luckily, I'm back to normal. I can't believe that I identified the Ardmore as a Highland malt. Sorry for the error.

@jerryclyde Thanks for the excellent review. Perhaps I’m missing something, but is Ardmore not a Highland malt? I was under the impression that it is.

@OdysseusUnbound Yes, Ardmore is definitely a Speyside malt. My error.

@jerryclyde The map I was looking at showed it just outside of Speyside. Strange. Although in fairness, even if it were “in” Speyside, it would still be a Highland Malt.

Just checked the SWR, and the SWA Distillery Map, and they both have Ardmore listed as a Highland Distillery, not a Speyside Distillery.

@YakLord Wow! Didn't know that the location of a distillery would create such interest. A couple of years ago Whiskey Advocate had an extended article on Speyside. As part of the article there was a section "Drive by Distillery Spotting" with driving directions for each of the Speyside distilleries; Ardmore was included. Also, Michael Jackson and Jim Murray have Ardmore classified as a Speyside malt. It seems that the Highland classification is quite broad. Deanston which is classified as a Highlander is in close proximity to Lowland distilleries. I guess that my response to UlyssesUnbound that Ardmore was "definitely" a Speysider is questionable. But the SWA being the SWA, if they classify Ardmore as a Highlander then .....

@jerryclyde It’s all strange to me.I think Glengoyne straddles the Highland/Lowland line as well.

@jerryclyde it's weird, for sure, because the line between Highland and Lowland is such an arbitrary line, and so is the Speyside distinction, but the SWA gets serious about it.

@OdysseusUnbound Glengoyne is above the political boundary line the SWA follows, but its warehouses, on the literal other side of the road from where the stills are, are below the line...

I do love me some Ardmore and I don’t really give a shit if it’s Highland, Lowland, Upland, Speyside, Seaside, Backside…I like it. I’m just a whisky drinker, and I have been for about 30 years. Is there a big difference between a Highland whisky and a Speyside whisky? I don’t think so. The big differences become apparent when one compares Islay, Cambelltown, and the islands to the rest. I have never been able to discern kumquat or red locorice twizler in a whisky. I like, I buy it again: I don’t like it, we’re done. I take quite a bit of advice from my fellow connosr members, one or two credible reviewers and trusted whisky friends. If there is a positive consensus I buy, if not, I pass.

I hesitate to post this because I have had 2 hefty Friday night drams after a particularly difficult week. But, what the hell.

Cheers amigos.

@jerryclyde I forgot to thank you for the interesting and helpful review in my previous rambling comments. And I see I misspelled licorice. I really should do these things before happy hour.

Nice review. I do like an Ardmore.

Chipping into the Speyside/Highland debate. As I understand it a distillery based in the Highlands can only call itself a Highland whisky. But a distillery based in Speyside can call itself a Speysider or a Highlander. Because Speyside is a separate region within the Highlands.

Hence you have Glenfarclas as a Speyside distillery identifying themselves as a Highlander on the bottle.

@Wierdo Thanks for your comment, it sheds a bit more light on the subject (I guess); I forgot about Glenfarclas' claim. Looks like my initial claim of Ardmore being a Highlander was part right, part wrong. This has been an interesting exchange of ideas and opinions; I've enjoyed it.

@BlueNote, some of the most memorable "Connosr" posts are a result of the hefty-two-dram indulgence. I don't mind at all.

@paddockjudge Hear! Hear!

@paddockjudge @jerryclyde Thanks guys. I feel totally vindicated to the point where I’m doing the same thing on Saturday night. Balblair 17 followed by Lagavulin 12.

In aquis vitae veritas.

@Victor It’s the worlds quickest tongue loosener.