Ardnamurchan AD/04.21:03

European Fruit & Peat In all honesty, Ardnamurchan is a distillery that has flown a bit under the radar for me. I thought the Inaugural Release was quite okay - quite a while ago now - but I haven't tasted much from this house since. Let me quickly make up for that with no less than 4 expressions. I start with the 3rd release, which was given the code AD/04.21:03, which means the 3rd release, released in April 2021. It concerns a montage of 65% bourbon and 35% sherry matured malt. Beautiful, full nose of ripe European fruit and earthy notes, which reveal some peat. Nice balance between sweet and salty. Nothing spectacular, but considering that this is a very young malt, that's already a good omen, as far as I'm concerned. Nice and oily on the tongue, almost creamy. The European fruit is returning, but now the peat is showing up a lot stronger. It offers a nice smoke development. Midpalate adds some lime, but also a touch of cardboard. Tingles a bit on the tongue, if you know what I mean. In my opinion, the aftertaste is the best part of this young whisky. Long, powerful on peat and smoke with a nice, slightly sweet citrus note on the deathbed. Considering its young age, this is already a beautiful malt. And with a price tag of around EUR 50, it is still affordable.

I don't think that it is actually peaty but there is this kind of new make spirit and that leaves the impression of something kippery, peaty with me

Pale yellow. Nose: some peat, citrus, pear. Taste: sweet, barrel, sweet smoke, barrel, vanilla.

A relatively new distillery

Although I am quite excited for what this malt shows - the future and the potential of the distillery and its malts, this still has a tinge of metallic immaturity which prevents me from loving it more.

a solid malt but not my cup of tea if that were my first from the still, I would now say they need a few more years; but there are better ones

N: Sweet and ripe yellow fruits, salty pebble stones, light peat, ashy oak, milk chocolate, honey, mineral notes. P: Ginger, milk chocolate and ripe citrus fruits and some pears and peach, light oak, vanilla F: Lot of chocolate, yellow fruits and spices

0494-ARDNAMURCHAN AD/04 21:03 HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT SCOTCH Whisky 46.8%. ...everything here is weird. I know all the ingredients and I like most of them. But here it's like a home cook who got to cooking and didn't quite know how to put it all together. This is a first attempt; maybe something might change on the second. Although, as they say, "you can only make a good impression once," and this impression is... so-so.

Nose on white wine a bit green, palate is quite impressive for such a young whisky, peat, citrus, good balance, very promising

An extremely great and round whisky for its age. Light smoke, heavy sweetness and look consistent. The alcohol is well integrated and all in all it fits the age!

Direct comparison with AD / 01.21: 01 which is nicer, rounder, sweeter and full-bodied and gets a total of 86 points.

There’s no denying that this is young, spirit driven whisky, but it is also quite versatile and layered. Between 4 and 6 years old, and with some less active casks involved (I think so anyway), much of the talking is left to the spirit. Which in this case, is by no means a bad thing as that is of very good quality. Wat it might ‘lack’ in terms of maturity (= cask impact), it makes up for with its intrinsic, no-nonsense quality.

blind tasting: A very interesting play of aromas from tart, fruity and floral sweet. Fortunately, it remains a harsh start, which is significantly softened again in the further course. The distillate appears very clean and, despite its youthful beginnings, is quite complex and well matured. It's not your run-of-the-mill whisky, it has character and I definitely enjoyed trying it. Was delicious!

Very good, triggers a buying reflex. This whisky follows in the footsteps of great role models like Bruichladdich and Springbank, for me how I experience it. Fresh, well-balanced in the taste, aromatic and easy to drink. 88/100.

Nose is quite nice and interesting, palate seems to lack the complexity and some of the nose elements and the finish is lacking. One of the bottles I regret buying and the reason is not the price - I simply don't find it interesting enough to drink it more often...

A lot of good things have already come from Ardnamurchan after such a short time in existence - and the whisky from there doesn't really have to have many years under its belt to ensure enjoyment from Glencairn.

A promising future. This young whisky is particularly tasteful. Totally my taste!

Had it for a while. Now sit down for a while. The first aromas make you happy

My first AD / glad that some local dealers were not as greedy as the internet.... N: fresh oak at the carpenter...gpineapple, lemon decent cool peat and seaspray.. menthol... decent flower honey...iodine M: Fresh oak the slight tropical fruits again...slight candle wax ...honey..Menthol, iodine..touch of milk chocolate...ginger F: Ginger...ashy.. limoncello... Pimento..cold smoke Very distellery driven which is not bad here it's a damn good destilate imo.. if I should describe it very short island peat, seaspray and spice mixed with highland texture and intense fruitiness + iodine ... definitely different and unique...like the idea that they're not trying to hide the youth behind some sweet wine and virgin Oak casks....just Bourbon an sherry in maybe the best percentage. Definitely very good for 5yo! Not too complex but round balanced and easily quaffable... Quite a long limoncello dominated finish.. I don't have bad feeling giving this bottle 86 Pts. After 2 month great development imo / one point up 87..less fresh oak more smoke layers.impressive

Wonderful nose of herbs and mint. The taste is herbal with a hint of hay and a little honey. But very alcoholic. I'm looking forward to the 10 year old bottlings.

UAU, really really appreciate what this whisky offers for just few years of age, it reminds me of Kilchoman Islay barley 10 but better and little bit more spicy. If this distillery keeps prices as they are now definitely will look for their new bottles!

Fruitier compared to the AD/07.21:05 bottling. It still has the trademark crushed seashells note that I associate with Ardnamurchan, along with a nice dose of salinity and dirtiness. Exquisite.

Decent whisky but not my kind. Bit too soft and average. Expected a bit more of this AD +1 for the transparancy, no colouring, non cf, proper abv, although the qr on my bottle didn't work anymore...

Quite a mature whisky for its young age. Nice combination of some gentle peat, fruits, saltiness. Very pleasant one.

I like the style of peat, similar to Highland Park. Big potential in this distillery.

Flat and uninteresting. just cinnamon and oak.

Tasted after the inaugural and the 01.21 as 07.21 and 10.21 are not in my cabinet at the time of tasting. This is the softest for me among the first 3 bottlings. Very silky and less peat than the others.

So this is a 6-7 years old whisky tops, right? What a taste profile and complexity for such a young age! Beautiful interplay between the sweetness, maltiness and smoke. A brilliant job, really. This is definitely a distillery to watch out for in the future, mark my words...

It’s not only a clever marketing strategy, but also an interesting experience having the chance of following the development of the young malt of a new and promising distillery. This release follows only of a few months the AD 01.21:01, but already displays some slight difference from the previous one. The balance between the elements is still there, as well as the fresh herbal - nearly balsamic - notes that are immediately clear at first sip. Anyway, while the smoky whiff seems a bit less pronounced, there’s a more spicy, nutty and even winey profile on this one, paired with a rounded palate, quite impressive for such a young malt. I probably won’t try all the following “intermediate” expressions this distillery is releasing (nearly on a monthly basis!), also for a matter of price, but for sure great things are to expect from Ardnamurchan once their whisky will reach a proper age.

A decent enough dram, but hasn't quite blown my socks off as I thought it might.

Some exciting stuff here….this specific release may not be a 85+ pointer but think about the quality this distillery will producing when spirit is 10-12 year old! As a NAS/work in progress release, this is very competitive. Salinity (of old pulteney 12 or abhainn dearg cs) on the nose. Maybe pear also there and some sweetness coming through. Taste: getting the immaturity of the spirit but not as unpleasant as I’ve had before for equivalent age, hint of peat, spice and a nice burn on the way down. Abv perfect level for me, any lower would make it quite a weak flavour. Like the branding and looking forward to seeing this distillery develop

Very well balanced dram. Slightly peated base with a round fruited character.

Good whisky with surprising complexity for its age and a pleasant overall impression.

Tasted on May 16, 2025 during a school trip to Zorge.

with water: no, fits so very well Conclusion: I blindly gave it a significantly higher age. It's already very far and makes fun Chapeau!

Not my thing at all, a mouthfeel to forget, something to neutralize it has to come first. The parallels to the inaugural release are obvious, unfortunately. For the full review, go here: https://halbendrinks.de/2022/10/02/newcomer-a/

Fresh stone fruit on the nose, youthful, sparkling taste and only fruity with the second sip. Pretty short finish. [81 - 78 = 'ok' whisky -> but do I need a whole bottle?] Already good on the nose, but still too young in taste. I should have tasted the sample first before buying the bottle and believing the advance praise and high ratings.

For the price and with the age it surprises positively and offers much more than expected.

Fruity on the nose, citrus, nectarine, melon, but also herbs. Wood. Oak. With two / three drops of water, leather, wood, salt and light smoke are added. On the palate - mainly because I choked - a full load of cocoa straight away. Was it just the swallowing ...? Something like strong cocoa, I've rarely seen that. With the second and third sip it was less noticeable, but strong herbs again, the fruit is gone. The finish is rather short, not a blast.

Very honest and down to earth malt. Great highland character, fresh grain notes combine with light fruits. On the palate it is really spicy, you also feel a bit of peat. Well balanced and nicely balanced. Like that. More of it please!

Amazing how good and how mature such a young whisky can be.

Impressive nose

served with: ossenworst, with grilled cauliflower, coucille, and grilled inkt of a squid.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2022/04/15/new-kids-on-the-loch/ N: I actually had this after two fabulous bruisers [WLP] the other week. Silly me, this one’s like chalk & cheese in comparison to those heavily peated winey heavyweights. T: [Belgium]-beer-like arrival, particularly Lindores-esque [WLP182 WLP282] with a regular [smooth] delivery & development. Remaining wash/beer-like, we’ve a hint of linseed oil~brine/aniseed candy string with tannic barley sugar sour-sweetness on the turn. F: Remains on its steady yeasty-ish beer-like slightly bubblegum-ey chewy trajectory with compressed spikes [ups & downs] to the finish. C: ‘Relativity is everything’, someone once said. Whilst this particular one isn’t my favourite, Arnamurchan distillery remains surefire.

Notes from an online blind tasting...