My review hiatus is, for now, ended: I have five or six bottles to work through in the next couple months.
This one is a single cask Ardmore from Berry Brothers and Rudd. Berry Brothers and Rudd is a wine merchant originating in London, and was founded all the way back in 1698 (!), making them the oldest wine and spirits merchant in the UK.
Until last week, they had no official presence in the United States, but they just opened their flagship store - and it happens to be here in Washington DC! In fact, steps away from an old office where I used to work.
I dropped in and was enticed to buy, with money I scarcely have, two bottles: this 11 year Ardmore aged in a "butt" (sherry, almost certainly) and a 14 year Dailuaine that has a Moscatel finish.
I've read about Berry Bros & Rudd (BBR) for years and years now, and seen lots of reference to their bottles on other whisky sites, and even obtained a few small samples here and there in the mail from fellow collectors. But until now I could never obtain a bottle of my own to sample and experiment with.
As a side note, BBR in DC is really positioning itself as a bespoke ultra-luxe wine merchant - they offer the services of "cellar-building" and also as a private wine consultant, presumably both for $$$$ - but most of their single cask Scotch whisky offerings were, in fact, reasonably priced. I really couldn't complain - the average price was between $90 and $125, which is right in line with independent bottlers like the Scotch Malt Whisky Society or Blackadder or Signatory, et al.
So here is their bottle from Ardmore, my single favorite distillery, aged 10 or 11 years in butt #9. The label is a little disappointingly opaque - we know only that it was distilled in 2012 and bottled in 2023, but not the exact dates, so the precise age is unknown. Additionally it only says "butt" and that 661 bottles were drawn from it - but no specific wine (PX? Amontillado? Oloroso?) and no origin and no idea what fill number it was.
It's bottled at 59.6%, uncolored, unchill-filtered. Let's see how the cask selectors for Berry Bros and Rudd acquit themselves:
Nose: The neck pour was quite closed at first, with whiffs of maritime elements (rocks, salt), lime, misc. red fruit, and lots of smoke.
Over time it opened up: butter on toast with plum jam, woodsmoke, kippers, salt, sea. Very oceanic.
Deeper in the bottle, and with a few drops of water the nose was quite sherry forward, with surprisingly strong rancio notes (cured meat, mushrooms, soy sauce, aged balsamic, aged red wine vinegar), brown sugar, motor oil, pipe tobacco, subtle vanilla, and red fruit. Maybe even, believe it or not, shrimp.
I asked my partner her opinion (she hates whisky, but has a great nose) and she immediately said "peach and almond." I think I'd agree, but I would specify "peach pits" - bitter, stony. The almonds were right on the money.
The empty glass, after tasting, smells strongly of brown sugar and cured meat / aged ham, which is really unusual.
Mouthfeel: Quite viscous, oily.
Palate: This definitely came from a sherry butt, because along with a truly massive initial smoke hit are notes of dry brown sugar, bright rich red fruit jam or preserves, red wine vinegar, and young leather. There are also notes of honey, unlit cigarettes, motor oil, and BBQ ash.
With a few drops of water, I get peach (the ripe flesh, not the pits), lime zest, peat, salted chocolate, and caramel. Actually quite lovely.
The palate is a lot sweeter than the nose would imply - all the sea and farm elements tend to drop away and leave industrial and sweet/fruit notes behind.
Finish: Quite a lovely and elegant finish - a real counterplay to the maritime nose. Pepper, almond/marzipan, woodsmoke, tons of ripe red fruit, warm bread, ash, salt, chocolate, and charcoal. The finish lasts an age and gives time for all those elements to unwind on the tongue. A really strong finish.
Verdict: If I had to guess, based on my tasting, I would hazard a guess that this spirit spent 11 years aging in a refill Oloroso butt. All the hallmarks are there. This is absolutely not ex-bourbon, based on the red fruit, the leather, the nuttiness, the rancio note on the nose, the brown sugar, etc.
Which makes it, then the first fully sherry-matured Ardmore I've ever had. And it's a good one. It's fascinating because it combines two different profiles of Ardmore that I've had - the heavily maritime, and the sweet/industrial.
The very first Ardmore I ever had was like highly alcohol oyster brine; others, especially older ones, are like honey and charcoal and orchard fruit and motor oil. This is halfway between those profiles - the nose is so dry and coastal, the palate is rich and sweet, and the finish is full of nutty, chocolatey, ashy notes.
Overall, I would say that cask #9 is a very good cask, and BBR did a good job selecting it. This isn't blowing me away as the best Ardmore I've ever had - and it's weirdly reminiscent of some very young sherry-matured Craigellachies I've sampled - but it's multidimensional, delicious, fascinating, and has a lot to offer a fan of Highland drams. Recommended if you find yourself in DC and in the BBR flagship store (or see it at auction etc).
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