Unpeated Malt Week on Whisky Odyssey:
Tasting notes for Ardlair 2011 by Signatory Vintage

One would almost turn back on the idea of doing a themed week, after Monday's extremely disappointing experience with Winey Caol Ila. That raises the question. If you use the unique selling point of bottling something out of the ordinary for a particular distillery, should you then cloak it with a very dominant maturation? In the case of the Caol Ila, it seemed less well thought out. Today we try an unpeated single malt from Ardmore Distillery, that has been bottled by Signatory Vintage and released under the name Ardlair. Usually, Ardmore is loved for a slight but distinctive peaty signature. Signatory got one from a refill sherry cask. Let us hope this leaves some room for the character of the spirit to shine.

Ardlair 11 years old, 2011 – 2023, bottled at 60,9 % abv by Signatory Vintage

Makeup: Refill Oloroso Sherry Butt with the long, loooong number 900031 produced no less than 582 bottles. At this strength, from one cask. That is impressive. Distilled on 27 January 2011 and bottled on 25 October 2023 in the Cask Strength Collection by Signatory.

General impressions: Must have been a tight cask that the angels had no interest in taking a share from. The cask rubbed off a sour note that dominates the glass. We will return there later and just take a sip straight away. I have to say, it gives me a nostalgic feeling for older Signatory bottlings. The very regular ones that I bought with two or three at the same time in my early days of drinking single malt. 

There is a hint of rubber on the tongue, a bitterish experience altogether, but still there is enough backbone to conclude this is a whisky you fight with. With water. After adding a nice splash, notes of vinegar keep pounding the nostrils. But after a little while, it settles better in the glass, and hints of caramel and soft fudge start coming up. On the palate, more fruits are noticeable, but not the popular ones. There is something exotic, like pomegranate maybe, and lychees even.

Conclusion: How much of the character is from the (unpeated) whisky, and how much did the cask stamp on? Impossible to answer. On its own, an interesting and entertaining whisky, but within the theme of unpeated whisky this is not one you should seek out. We will look for unpeated Ardmore in a bourbon cask next time.

Score: 82 points

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