This deliciously balanced Ardmore 14 Year Old is born from the beauty of uniting two traditions.
Originally the smokey backbone to Teacher's blended whisky, Ardmore is rapidly earning a reputation as one of the best mainland peated single malts. In contrast to its smokey island competitors, Ardmore's mainland peat imparts an earthier and sometimes more delicate smokiness that allows the whisky to present additional flavour profiles alongside the peat.
Upon first tasting this cask, I detected an inherent sweetness that served as a delicious undercurrent to the smoke. I made the decision to emphasise the whisky's natural sweetness by finishing it in a cask from one of my favourite wine types: Hungarian Tokaji, renowned for its unique traditional production style which uses overripe grapes to create even more sweetness.
The result is a subtle dance between Scottish Highland peat and Hungarian grape; a sweet and smokey dram that brings together flavours as disparate as their roots, combining to create an exceedingly moreish whole.
Story
Finn Thomson is a Scotch whisky independent bottler that is 300 years in the making. Since James Thomsons illicit potstill in the 1700s, the Thomson family has pursued a different element of whisky through the ages – distilling, blending, trading, selling – helping to shape the very story of Scotch itself.
With three centuries of family whisky history and personal tutelage from some of the most respected names in the Scottish whisky industry, Finn may stand on the shoulders of giants. But the weight of decision rests on his own.
Finn is responsible for calling the moment when a whisky’s flavours are at their finest; quirks and eccentricities at their most beguiling. Whether it’s a decades-old cask from the family collection or an entirely new creation, this is art as much as science. Wood, water and weather have had their say. The only guides that count now are taste, scent and intuition.