Ardnoch Blended Malt Scotch Whisky, 5 Years Old, 70CL, 52.7% ABV – RRP £75

Description

Ardnoch Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
5 Years Old
Hogshead x Ex-Islay Quarter Cask / 450 bottles
52.7% ABV
Artwork by: Whisky Hobo

Colour: Hay

Nose: Green banana, smoky beeswax, sour plooms, nettles, yellow pepper, lemon sherbet, fresh mint and coriander leaf, Gewürtztraminer, musty & dusty

Palate: Honeydew melon, salty flapjack, rich tea biscuits, orange skin, macadamias, orange bitters, humbugs, good texture

Finish: Medium, slightly bitter cloying but in a good way

Tasting notes by Connal Mackenzie – Ardnamurchan

The Amazing Ardnoch Vol. 1

When east meets west

Behold! A new blended malt beckons. 

We have teamed up with our friends at Ardnamurchan Distillery to bring you a new Double Malt Whisky. The idea behind this dangerous concoction arrived via a visit by Phil and Jack to the Ardnamurchan peninsula with Connal and Graeme in spring of 2024 (Simon couldn’t make it as he was 3 days into a yeast related thought-vortex).

Way back when, in the autumn of 2021, Ardnamurchan and Dornoch distilleries embarked on a brave and wonderful journey, creating a blended at birth. Combining Ardnamurchan NMS and Dornoch NMS on the beautiful Ardnamurchan peninsula. To celebrate the fact that these casks have now reached the age that they can officially be named whisky, we thought it would be fun to create a blend of our current, mature stock. After all, whisky should be fun.

As you may be aware, Dornoch output is extremely limited, so for us, selecting the cask to use in this blend was quite simple. Literally, ‘hmm, that one’. Connal then ventured up north and joined us in the Dornoch Castle Hotel vault (aka dungeon), samples of Ardnamurchan in tow. The samples he brought were married with our chosen cask of Dornoch at relative proportions and Connal, Phil, Simon, Dan and Jack took to voting. Thankfully it was unanimous and ‘Ardnoch’ is the resulting juice, after being vatted and returned to the original casks for a resting period. 

The casks in question were

Ardnamurchan 2016 FFB

Dornoch 2019 Ex-Southern Islay Distillery QC

As it turns out, Dornoch and Ardnamurchan blended together is quite compelling. The unmistakable and concentrated direction of Ardnamurchan brings saltiness and fruit. Meanwhile, the Dornoch provides idiosyncratic texture and funk. Like blooming gorse by the sea. 

We asked whisky enthusiast Graeme Mackay (pronounced yer-DA) for his thoughts on the blend and he spewed out the following;

“My life will now be firmly divided into two periods; Pre Ardnoch and After Ardnoch. Pre Ardnoch I was a directionless waif, a higgledy-piggledy wastrel with no idea what to do with myself. Post Ardnoch, I am a man of focus, of action, of finely tuned precision. Ardnoch showed me the light. Ardnoch showed me the way. Ardnoch saved my life.”

Thanks, Graeme. Lovely.

As ever, we hope you enjoy drinking this.