Ardmore 25 Year (SMWS 66.244 "An Aviator's Choice")

 

At this point I am a known sucker for independently bottled Ardmore. It's just a fact - all my whisky friends immediately assume (and usually correctly) that whatever hot new bottle of Ardmore gets released, it's on my shelf somewhere. 

Although I've had to make sacrifices to accomplish this - no new official bottles like the Bruichladdich 18 year for me, nor many intriguing bottles from other lesser-known distilleries - but I've nearly always been rewarded. I just happen to adore the core Ardmore spirit - fruity, perfumed, yet with lots of motor oil and cigarettes - and I think it tolerates all kinds of other casks well. 

That said, like many a whisky, it does its best when aged quite a bit and allowed to "breathe," so to speak. This bottle, from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), is one of several sister casks all distilled on October 23, 1997 - and virtually all of the others have been phenomenal, including two that I've reviewed here, both 23 year olds, 66.197 and 66.198, called (respectively) "Let the World Fall Down" and "Serene Sunset Satisfaction." Both were among the very best single malt scotches I've had - the former finished for a couple years in Oloroso sherry, the latter in presumably a red wine barrique. 

This bottle is all 25 years in refill bourbon. Here are the official notes: 

Stood at the foot of the steps up to the propeller-driven plane, the air filled with aviation exhaust: metallic, mineralic, sooty. To taste, wintergreen joined bacon fat and bog myrtle as a platter of salt-baked cod was served with celeriac remoulade. Having introduced water, we found a wonderfully elegant smoke on the nose, with the smell of a new passport joining pears and lumps of coal being poached in port. The palate remained minty, with a sweet, smoky hazelnut and liquorice preceding PVA glue.

Wow! This sounds even better than the last two - I love pear, I love mineral/soot notes, I love the idea of bog myrtle and "celeriac remoulade" ... lumps of coal, poached in port?? Count me in.

Bottled under SMWS's "Old and Dignified" category, with one of the coveted black labels, at 54.5% ABV, 700mL bottle format. Let's see how it does:

Nose: Well, this is quintessential Ardmore - pears, motor oil, apples, herbed honey, coal soot, and farmyard.

Mouthfeel: Thick and quite viscous. Surprisingly so, after 25 years. Can't say I agree with Linh from the SMWS outturn video, who described it as thin.

Palate: Orchard fruit and honey, light cigarette smoke, honeycomb, farmyard (hay, dirt... paint?), honeydew melon, herbs, roasted nuts, and coal. Very rich. The alcohol is slightly numbing at first, but rapidly integrates on the tongue until it's incredibly moreish.

Finish: Coal and honey. Pear drops and ginger.

Verdict: A stellar old Ardmore. On par with the 32 year old the SMWS recently released, or the 24 year WhiskyNerds release - a little heavier on the pear and honey, but still quite close. Unfortunately, SMWS seemed to have caught on a bit to the Ardmore hype, since this bottle is a bit more than the previous old Ardmore releases, but I'd still say it's still in the realm of acceptability - that 24 year WhiskyNerds release was basically the same, after shipping.