Ardmore Port Wood Finish 12 Years
Older Whiskys from the Ardmore distillery are rarely found. Among the younger standards is the Ardmore Legacy, as well as the Ardmore Port Wood Finish 12 years, reviewed here.A special characteristic of the distillery from the Scottish Highlands is that, unlike its neighbours, it uses peated barley and thus a fruity-smoky note can be found in the spirits.
The panel
Mean 67.0 · spread 0
Value for money 3/5
- Distillery
- Ardmore
- Type
- Single Malt
- Region
- Highlands
- Country
- Scotland
- Age
- 12 years
- Strength
- 46% ABV
- Character
- rich
Tasting
Nose
An old solid wood cupboard in a room with a recently extinguished fireplace is the first image we have in our mind after having the aroma of the scotch in our nose for the first time. Slightly maritime-mineral aromas of a fruit cake follow. Every now and then we find red berries.
Palate
The Ardmore is dry and very sweet in the mouth. Red berries, fig and pine needles follow. A light peat smoke lies over everything.
Finish
Soft, relatively short and slightly smoky, but with flavours of oak and potting soil, the Port Wood Finish concludes.
Verdicts
Marcel
The Ardmore Port Wood Finish 12 Years is a pleasant companion for cozy evenings, scoring points with its sweet fruitiness and subtle smoky character. However, for fans of intense port wine notes, it remains more of a gentle attempt without that big wow factor.
Sascha
From a structural perspective, the Ardmore Port Wood Finish shows a solid balance between sweet fruit aromas and light smokiness, yet it falls short in the complexity and intensity of the port wine influences. Overall, a well-crafted Highland whisky, but one that doesn’t set a new benchmark.
What it is worth
We do not yet hold bottle-level auction results — that sits behind Whisky Hunter’s authenticated feed. What follows is the market for Ardmore as a whole, which sets the weather for this bottling without pricing it.
Latest mean bid £71 across 93 lots · 2024-08