The Ardmore distillery is located in the far South-East of the Speyside region. Actually, this isn't the first distillery to carry the name. Between 1817 and 1835 there used to be an 'Ardmore' distillery on Islay as well.
It was incorporated by Lagavulin in 1837.

The current Ardmore distillery is located at the edge of the Grampian mountains. It was built in 1898 by Adam Teacher, son of William Teacher. Even today, most of the whisky the distillery produces is reserved for the Teacher's blends. It is said that Teachers Highland Cream derives most of its malty character from the Ardmore malt whisky.

Ardmore was founded during one of the industry booms at the end of the 19th century. It was quite modern at the time; the entire distillery was powered by a single steam engine and the railway ran right alongside the buildings. Of course, this was very convenient when it came to the transport of supplies of barley and coal.

Number of bottlings sampled and approved for human consumption:  3
 

Ardmore 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Unchillfiltered, 70cl)
(Distilled 31/05/1990, matured in bourbon casks #6360/61, bottled 31/05/2001, bottle #57 of 642)
Nose: Quite restrained. A little spicy, with hints of ripe pears.
Balanced. Soft honey and toffee notes appear after a while. Pleasant, but little character.
Taste: Malty. A hint of peat after a while?
Smooth. Sweetish in the start, but not in the finish.
Score: 71 points.
 

Ardmore 11yo 1990/2001 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Unchillfiltered, 70cl)
(Distilled 31/05/1990, matured in bourbon cask #6367, bottled 12/12/2001, bottle #20 of 323)
Nose: Lemon, apple, pear & other fruits. Light. Something nutty. Very nice.
Pleasant organics after a while. Veggy - a little too much so, in fact.
Taste: Sweetish and slightly gritty. Vegetables. Not as pleasant as the nose.
Score: 78 points.
 

Ardmore 1981/1995 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, code IE/AEF, 70cl)
Nose: Nice! Deep sherry with something I can't put my finger on.
A hint of oranges and soap perfume. Something 'sparkly' as well.
Taste: Very nice. Smooth and sweet like whipped cream.
A decent malty burn, followed by a relatively short, dry finish.
Score: 78 points.
 

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Ardmore is actually one of the largest distilleries in Scotland.
With a malt storage capacity of +/- 1,000 tonnes, a 25 feet mash tun and fourteen wooden wash backs with a total capacity of 90,000 litres the four wash stills receive a constant flow of wash. Like the wash stills, the four copper spirit stills hold 15,000 litres each.  All this equipment is responsible for an annual output of more than 3,000,000,000 litres of alcohol each year.
Impressive, eh?

Until the 1970's barley was malted on the premises, but like so many other distilleries Ardmore depends on specialised maltsters these days. Ardmore is said to use relatively heavily peated barley, which may account for the rich, powerful character of the whisky produced there. The old distillery maltings have been converted into a filling store and warehouses but Ardmore still has its own cooperage.

Even today the stills are still heated with traditional coal furnaces.
In fact, Ardmore is one of the few remaining distilleries to use coal.
The distillery has been expanded twice since WWII. The number of two stills was doubled to four in 1955 and then doubled again in 1974 to a grand total of eight.

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