The Ardmore distillery is located in the far South-East
of the Speyside region. Actually, this Ardmore isn't the
first distillery to carry the name. Between 1817 and '35
there used to be another 'Ardmore' distillery on Islay.
That one 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. Even today, most of the whisky
the distillery produces is reserved for the Teacher's blends.
Teacher's gets its malty character from the Ardmore malt.

Ardmore was founded during one of the industry booms at the end of the
19th century. It was actually quite modern at the time; the entire distillery
was powered by a single steam engine and a railway ran alongside the buildings.
Of course, this was convenient when it came to the transport of supplies like
barley and coal. Until 2002 the stills at Ardmore were heated by the traditional
coal fired furnaces, but like most other distilleries they use internat heating now.

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 in the beginning. A little spicy, with hints of ripe pears. Well balanced.
Soft honey and toffee notes appear after a while. Pleasant, but it has relatively little character.
Taste: Malty. A hint of peat after a while? Smooth. Sweetish in the start, but not in the finish.
Score: 71 points - in this case Ardmore doesn't quite live up to its reputation.

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 indeed.
Pleasant organics after a while. Veggy - a little too much so for my tastes, in fact.
Taste: Sweetish and slightly gritty. Vegetables. Not as pleasant as the nose.
Score: 78 points - above average, but not enough to make it 'recommendable'.

Ardmore 1981/1995 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail, code IE/AEF, 70cl)
Nose: Nice! Deep sherry with something very pleasant that I can't put my finger on.
A hint of oranges and soap perfume. Something that feels 'sparkly' in the nose as well.
Taste: Very nice. Smooth and sweet like whipped cream. A treat for your tonsils.
A decent malty burn, followed by a relatively short, dry finish. Very drammable.
Score: 78 points - better than average but hardly spectacular.

Ardmore 1985/2000 (40%, G&M OB, sample from Serge)
Nose: Sweetish, creamy and slightly oily at first. An old, dried out Golden Delicious.
Very faint spices in the background, developing into organics. Holly? Petrol? Peat?
The peaty component grows stronger with time, although it never reaches Islay levels.
Taste: Yeah, there's definitely a pinch of peat in here - but not much and it doesn't last.
Smoky. Pleasant, but rather flat. That being said, it packs quite a punch at just 40%.
Score: 80 points - I had it a few points higher until the watery finish dragged it down.

Ardmore 1987/2003 (45%, G&M for La Maison du Whisky)
Nose: Hey, that's different... Once again, furniture polish - but quite subdued.
There appears to be a hint of oil, but it's good olive oil instead of cod oil. Clay?
Malted barley. Peculiar aroma's under the layer of grainy sweetness in the nose.
Peppermint. Organics. It's a bit of a 'dichotomic' malt with a dark side to it.
Spices and organics. Wet dog in the background. Hey, is that a hint of peat?
Taste: Smooth and balanced. Slowly dries out. This has a fabulous mouth feel.
Smooth and pleasant on the palate, before turning much drier. Smokier as well?
At times I thought I found traces of smoke and peat, but I wasn't quite sure.
After five minutes I was finally sure; there is some peat in here - but not a lot.
Score: 84 points - this packs quite a punch, but without the peaty burn of an Islay malt.
Hurray, this is one of the first Ardmores I got really excited about. Great stuff.

Ardmore 21yo 1977/1999 '100th Anniversary' (43%, OB)
Nose: Sherry fruits and a whiff of smoke. A classic profile, growing bolder with time.
It's not terribly complex at first, but it opens up with time. Hint of marzipan?
Taste: Hmmm. A tad perfumy in the start, growing smoother and sweeter.
Chewy. Fruitier after a little while. Some smoke as well? Oh yes, definitely.
A little bitter and winey in the finish. Something 'piney' as well. Hint of menthol?
Score: 82 points - the nose justifies a score in the upper 80's, but the palate doesn't.
It's clear that I'm not as big an Ardmore fan as some of the other malt maniacs.
This one somehow reminded me of a Bowmore, although it isn't quite as peaty.

Ardmore 21yo 1979/???? (50%, Douglas Laing OMC 0345, DL266, November 1979)
Nose: Quite mellow, growing creamier and oilier. Surprisingly restrained at first. Maggi?
After the first peaty punch on the palate the nose suddenly seems to open up as well.
More organics and a hint of smoke emerge and grow more complex with time. Chalk.
Taste: Wow! A very sweet start, quickly followed by an unexpected peaty punch.
Quite amazing; one of the most satisfying palates I've encountered this year. Lovely.
Sweet, smoky and solid from start to finish. Liquorice. Easily mistaken for an Islay malt.
After a few drops of water the fruit and wood come to the surface. Like Lagavulin 16yo!
Score: 90 points - and for once a malt earns this score mainly on the palate. Earlier experiences with Ardmore never quite convinced me that this was the highly underrated malt many people rave about - most of them scored between 78 and 82 points. That can be translated as 'good but not spectacular'. Well, this one IS spectacular; simply the very best Ardmore I ever tried. Especially the palate is highly addictive. This is the first expression I tried at a strength of more than 46%, so maybe I need that extra proof to lift these peaty traits upwards.
 

Check out my Track Record for a complete and up-to-date overview of all 'siplings' I've tried.
 
 
 

Ardmore is actually one of the largest distilleries in Scotland.
The distillery has been expanded not once but twice since WWII.
The original number of two stills was doubled to four in 1955 and then
doubled again in 1974 to a grand total of eight. With a malt storage capacity
of +/- 1,000 tonnes, a 25 feet mash tun and 14 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 fancy equipment is responsible for an annual output of (hold on...)
more than 3,000,000,000 litres of alcohol each year. Pretty impressive, eh?
Even more impressive: they could produce 4,200.000 litres 'on full steam'.

Until the 1970's barley was malted on the premises, but like so many other
distilleries the Ardmore distillery depends on specialised maltsters these days.
Rumour has it that Ardmore uses relatively heavily peated barley, which may
account for the rich, powerful character of the malt whisky produced there.
The original distillery maltings were converted into warehouses and a filling
store some time ago, but Ardmore still has its own cooperage.

Think about it; if you wanted to you could fill many king size swimming pools with that.
But why would you? The malts (and the Teacher's blend) are much better suited to drinking than to swimming...

Trivia about Ardmore: In 2002 Ardmore was one of the last distilleries in Scotland to switch from coal firing (direct heating) to steam heating (indirect). In 2005 Fortune Brands became the new owner of Ardmore..