Ardmore 8 Year Old 2008 Berry Bros & Rudd for The Nectar

This is probably the palest Ardmore I have ever seen. Even lighter than white wine. Berry Brothers bottled this youngling for The Nectar, a Belgian importer. It is a single cask, but cut to 46%.

The nose may start closed, but slowly it shows it true colors. In this case, that means a delicately smoky but mostly very sweet nose on barley sugars, vanilla, a truckload of apples and a pinch of pepper.

On the palate it is immediately very sweet on apples and vanilla – more of the same, thus – but with a powerful note of pepper and peat. The smoke becomes quite big and blind you’d be forgiven for mistaking this for a young Islay. But the smoke clears quickly and leaves a sweet malt that cannot hide its young age.

The finish is rather short, very sweet with a spicy element and a surprisingly salty finale.

Easily drinkable, rather docile Ardmore. But it is good.

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