Ardnamurchan 6yo Peated CK.358
Canada Exclusive AD/07:15 2021 | 59.3% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A coastal dream with a price to match
A Different Perspective on Ardnamurchan?
I had this whisky in the queue for a long time. I have only expedited it based on the deluge of Ardnamurchan praise gracing Dramface of late.
In fact, Wally nailed it in a Golden Promise-fueled dichotomy review: when does doing good become the norm and we tire of hearing about it?
Or alternatively: for everyone else in the world who can’t get their hands on single cask Ardnamurchan, are you tired of hearing about it? Because I am.
Wally used the term saturation. It’s a perfect word for the adoration that Ardnamurchan has been receiving. When you consistently produce good stuff, the good stuff eventually becomes average and only exceptional products will cause the needle to twitch upwards.
But what about those of us who are not saturated? Those of us who are desiccated? Parched? Looking for an oasis among a desert with quicksand traps of new single cask independent bottlers releasing questionable stuff? Ok, that last one was a little tongue-in-cheek although a recent increase in new indies in my market, with questionable provenance and steep prices, has turned me off and focussed me on official single cask releases. I’ve recently snagged a 15 yo single cask Old Pulteney on discount for fun and I’ve lapped up several single cask Benromachs as well.
I would wager that many of you outside of Scotland/UK-proper are feeling like me when it comes to Ardnamurchan: thanks for the new AD/ core range and the availability, but we want more. More hooks. More crazy stuff. More punch.
More single casks. Yes, that’s usually where those things are found. The extraneous ones. The exceptional ones. The ones that cause you to simultaneously go “WTF” and “WOW” in the same breath.
The lack of official distillery single casks found around the world, coupled with a smidge of social media exhaustion and numbing to whisky releases that I’ve been feeling as of late, I’ve become a bit of a grump. A grump who wants everything and nothing at the same time but one thing that hasn’t wavered: I want everything to be good value. I’ll spend for quality but I’m quickly burned when I buy anything, not just whisky, that doesn’t live up to its promises; which objectively is happening more and more frequently lately.
That leads me here: a 7/10 scoring single cask Ardnamurchan? The average of the past 10 reviewed here on Dramface have been a lofty 8/10. What’s afoot?
Review
Ardnamurchan AD/07:15, CK.358, 2021 Canada Exclusive Cask, American oak, Peated, 6yo, 266 bottles, 59.3% ABV
£102 paid (CAD$180) and still some floating around
If the QR code worked, I believe it would say 30 ppm peated Concerto barley aged in an ex-bourbon barrel for 6 years. But it doesn’t.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A coastal dream with a price to match
Nose
Clean. Pure. Briny, ozone lemons. Clean burning wood hardwood. Vanilla. If smells could be a visual, it’s a sunny coastal day. Pencil shavings.
Palate
Power, power, and power. Comes out swinging with the power and peat. But it's a clean peat, like a dry stick burning with plenty of oxygen, perhaps a smidge ashy. It’s mega citrusy and salty. Some crisp Gala apples underneath, but just the lightest touch. There’s an icing sugar-like sweetness sprinkled all throughout the experience. Of course there's some heat from %abv but it never gets in the way nor is surprising.
It’s a long slow finish, with a decline of sweet ashy peat with lemon juice. Refreshing and moreish.
The Dregs
This reminds me of a Port Charlotte 10. But when pouring side-by-side, the PC10 pales in comparison and comes off more earthy and rubbery. That’s just how clean and pure this Ardnamurchan is, it just absolutely sings.
I’m a very visual guy, it’s how I learn and process everything around me. This places me right on a rugged coastline, with a Scandinavian designed monolithic monstrosity of a house behind me, breathing deeply a dry driftwood fire while watching the sun go down. It’s powerful, rugged, but refined and warming.
This is a great whisky. For the age, it’s very well executed and high quality. But the price is prohibitive, where I am. I’m not sure what the discrepancy is here but it appears that the recent flood of Arnamurchan single cask bottles flooding our site have all been priced much lower than this older 2021 bottling. If I average the last 10 single cask Ardnamurchans reviewed here on Dramface, the authors paid an average of £81. Yet I paid £102, back in 2022! Perhaps it’s a local importer markup here in Canada? Perhaps it’s a 2021 vs 2024 pricing difference when these bottles were more rare than the increased release counts of late? Just simple supply/demand economics? Regardless, price factors into scoring here on Dramface.
This is a 7.5/10 whisky, perhaps even a bit more, but the eye-watering price, much like my visual description of the sense of place this whisky evokes, causes me to stumble to a 7. It’s an incredibly solid 7, but a 7 nonetheless. It’s just too close of an experience compared to the much more affordable AD/ Cask Strength releases.
I guess this circles back to my plea, with a twist: Ardnamurchan, share the love. You’re obviously producing good whisky but please try and get it to more markets and at an appropriate price.
Sorry Ardna (and Dougie), someone has to temper the love and keep objectivity.
PS: That being said, I’m off to buy one of the last remaining bottles here in Canada, especially when on sale. Quality whisky is quality whisky and I’m not holding my breath for the team at Ardnamurchan to release additional single casks in my market, despite my pleas.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB
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