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Whisky #545: Ardmore 2008 Signatory Vintage 8 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt (Celebrating 60th Anniversary of La Maison du Whisky). Highlands, Scotland. ABV: 62.2%. Tasted at Whisky a Day HQ, $18 (30mL sample from Casa de Vinos).
Colour: Golden honey.
Nose: It smacks you in the nose initially with a hit of smoke and hessian sacks. But with time in the glass it softens and the smoke lifts, leaving some cocoa and cherry notes.
Palate: Going back for the charred sausages at the end of the BBQ, you’ve already had your fill but you want another bite. A black pepper zing on the tongue, along with golden syrup and intense salted caramel.
Finish: Salty and smokey, almost cool smoke on the tongue. Like ripping into a stick of biltong that leaves a long salty tang on the front and mid palate.
Comments: An independent bottling of Ardmore by Signatory Vintage to celebrate the 60th anniversary of La Maison du Whisky, a renowned French whisky importer and distributor. That’s more confusing than a polygamist’s family tree, but no matter…it is delicious juice, regardless of its lineage. Single cask, cask strength Ardmore is a fantastically powerful and unique Highlands whisky…love it!