Ardmore 2008 / 8 Year Old / Provenance

My first bottle of Ardmore (although I now have two on the go) and plumbed for a single (refill - bourbon I'm guessing) cask IB from Douglas Laing's Provenance series. I believe that it is only relatively recently that Ardmore branched into the single malt world, being primarily used as blend filler. Ardmore is said to be the main malt component of Teacher's; it certainly used to be.

This bottle has been open a few weeks and about half remains. This review is with a few drops of water glass left for 10 minutes.

Nose - smoke, lots of smoke with earthy, forest floor peat. A 'dirty' vanilla is in the background and some soft spices - mild pickled ginger like you get with sushi. A sweetness is also present but blanketed by the smoke.

Taste - Sweet and smokey. Fruit syrup like the juice from canned peaches. Maybe a slight hint of salinity but it's vague. Pleasing mouth feel and becomes drying.

Finish - shortish. A soft, sweet fennel taste lingers for a little while. Some gentle dry oak tannins.

So, quite a straightforward and uncomplicated affair but it does what it does very well. Much better than the Legacy I had to whet my whistle earlier. I have been surprised by how smokey this is and it could be right up the street for those who don't like the medicinal style of peat. It certainly gives my recently finished bottle of Lagavulin 8 a run for its money and about £20 less! Bargain.

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