Ardnahoe, Strathearn and other New Scottish Cats


May 10, 2024

Ardnahoe, Strathearn and other New Scottish Cats

Here we have the first official Strathearn, the first Ardnahoe as well, and a few other young distilleries and variants. The world of Scottish whisky continues to evolve (now, that's a useful comment, S.!)

Ardnahoe Distillery on Islay (Ardnahoe)

Glenwyvis 2019 '2023 release' (46.5%, OB, 12,000 bottles)

Straight from Dingwall, a majority of ex-bourbon, plus some refill and '17%' (that's right) wines. You can't make Scotch whisky without table wine these days, I suppose there must be a new rule about that at the honourable SWA. I had thought the 2022 edition was really good (WF 80). Colour: pale white wine. Nose: I find it extremely barley-y, full of Weetabix, then mashed carrots, cut apples and plums. A good few tinned greengages too. Mouth: a tad rough, which is normal, with fruit peel, lemon zests, some muesli, more cereals, and something globally pretty tangy. Moves towards mirabelle plums and oranges, a very nice move for sure. Finish: long, tart, grassier as almost always, with green pears. The aftertaste has a lovely lemonness. Comments: perhaps not quite on par with the awesome 2018 by Berry Bros. from last year but very solid young drop. Next step would be honeys and waxes, see you in a few years.
SGP:451 - 82 points.

Perhaps a butt…

Glenwyvis 2018/2024 (61.5%, OB, Kirsch exclusive, 1st fill oloroso sherry butt, cask #243, 671 bottles)

We're in Germany. Colour: full gold. Nose: not that huge at this very high strength, but you do get pencil shavings and cocoa, as well as some kind of candied ginger dipped into orange syrup. Neat and tidy this far. With water: oranges are having the upper hand. Awesome old triple-sec, Grand-Marnier, Cointreau, Mandarine Impériale and all that. Rather less tannicity than feared, hurray. Mouth (neat): big, oak-spice-driven, apparently. Full of cinnamon mints and ginger. Awesome triple-sec + mango syrup combo in the background, but no chances taken, with water: almost no changes this time, it is a tad gritty, tea-ish and kind of tannic. On the other hand, this lovely citrus keeps it afloat and all remains well. Finish: long, spicy, zesty, fresh. The cedarwood is back in the aftertaste (a.k.a. pencil shavings) together with some peach liqueur. Comments: did I not miss the oloroso part? The 'obvious' oak never was a problem. Very, very nice young drop.
SGP:651 - 85 points.

Since we're talking about Germany, just a few thoughts on this year's stunning Whisky Fair in Limburg. It's wonderful to see so many old friends again, and there are increasingly more new whiskies, although they are mainly from very young distilleries from around the world or names like Linkwood, Teaninich, Benrinnes, or Secret Orkneys that are 10 years old and bottled by young, vibrant, enthusiastic and sometimes pretty new independent bottlers. Very good indeed! However, what slightly worried me was the abundance of grey hair within the audience, including mine; it almost felt like being at a Stevie Nicks gig. Are the younger generations a little less interested in whisky? Or is it simply a matter of prices now being far too high? This trend is also apparent in the wine industry. Let's move on…

Strathearn 'Inaugural Release' (50%, OB, 2024)

From a combination of virgin, bourbon and sherry casks, around 7 years old on average. Perthshire's quasi-pocket distillery Strathearn now belongs to Douglas Laing. We've already tried two or three indie youngsters, they were good. Colour: light gold. Nose: bread and pastry dough plus candied fruits. Simply perfect. Right, that was a bit short, so say panettone, sourdough bread, rhubarb juice and bamboo shoots. How does that sound? With water: fresh brioche straight from the baker's. Lovely breakfast. Also a closed pack of cigarettes (how about Gold Leaf?) Mouth (neat): mango, beeswax, more rhubarb, golden syrup, pancake sauce, green tea (Gunpowder) and pink grapefruit. Great idea to have waited quite bit longer before releasing a first official, well, release. With water: water pulls out sweet roots. Gentian, carrots, all complex flavours that are highly desirable in my book. Finish: long, rather more on milk chocolate and some slightly gingered orange juice. Touch of fresh turmeric in the aftertaste. Comments: awesomely complex at this age. TBH we visited the distillery while it had just been built and the tiny gear had been a little, let's say, frightening. Mea culpa, much impressed today.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

Strathearn 10 yo 2014/2024 'Dramton Abbey' (57.1%, Thompson Bros., private bottling, 100l sherry cask)

So, with a dozen friends including The Sponge, a Fiddler and the Thompsons, we got the keys of the distillery ten years ago and could make our own malt whisky under our own specs, with no distillery owners, manager or workers in the way! It's almost been as if we only had to leave the keys under the doormat when leaving. Thank God we were having M.D. (that's Master Distiller) Simon Thompson with us. This is the end result, ten years later. Colour: deep gold. Nose: right between some middle-aged rhum agricole, straight bourbon and fresh estate cognac. The sum of it all generates this… dazzlingly cakey malt whisky. As someone once sang, maybe I'm amazed. Love the parsley in it! With water: classic malt, with some ale, cakes, chocolate, tobacco, menthol, camphor and just a little rainwater and damp chalk in the background. Mouth (neat): tiny citrus and even tinier herbs, plus many variations on ginger and the usual turmeric and cinnamon. With water: superb. Fifty percent fir honey, fifty percent proper marmalade and fifty percent assorted oriental spices and rosewater. That's more than one hundred percent but indeed, it's big whisky. Finish: long, superbly jammy, candied and spicy. Peppered fig jam or something like that. Comments: clearly oriental in some way. We won't score this baby but rest assured that any numbers would have been pretty high. Regarding my own role in this work, I believe I butchered two or three old Alsatian Lieder and told a few pointless jokes during the heating. You see, that worked.
SGP:651 - (-) points.

Ardnamurchan 7 yo 2016/2023 (58.1%, OB, for Switzerland, 1st fill PX sherry hogshead, cask #838, 324 bottles)

Ardnamurchan has now truly become a part of the landscape of great Scottish malts, with its splendid west coast aspect. Well, I don't always understand everything on the labels (AD/09:16, is that a reference to battleships?) but that's probably just me. Hoppla… Colour: full gold. Nose: someone has kilned a banana cake and then drizzled it with chestnut honey and mint-liquorice sauce. There's a very subtle, rather pleasant composted fruit aspect to it. With water: much the same, but with just a few hints of pea cream. Or take Ninon cream, quite an incredible thing. I'll see if I can find you the recipe… Mouth (neat): creamy, cheerfully medicinal, minty and lemony, with plenty of thyme (you have to like it, I personally love it) and some sultanas. The PX has remained refined. With water: we add some orange marmalade and a bit of ginger. Very classic. Finish: long, focused, always on this marmalade. Comments: superb, even if the PX seems to have slightly diminished some of the peatiness. It's true that PX can be overpowering, but here, we are well within limits.
SGP:654 - 88 points.

Ardnahoe 5 yo 'Inaugural Release' (50%, OB, 2024)

The first one! Ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso sherry casks. To keep us waiting since the first distillation at Ardnahoe (they're situated between Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila) in 2018, Hunter Laing have been deliciously bombarding us maltheads with old Caol Ila, Laphroaig, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore, and even some very high-quality Port Ellen under their 'The Kinship' label. So frankly, we could have waited a few more years. Hey, just kidding. Colour: gold. Nose: it's very much pure Islay, perhaps leaning more towards the south shore than the east shore in style. But if I remember correctly, there's also a magnificent Celtic cross up there not too far from the east coast. Here the smoke is pronounced, slightly acrid (like a back-drafting fireplace), but there's a rather specific fruity combination right behind it. I'm not sure if it will be found in future bottlings, but I detect blood orange mixed with apricots and a few tomato notes. I love it when a bit of tomato comes through in a malt whisky. Even tomato bush. Brilliant. With water: not much development, maybe a bit more brininess, olives, pickles… Mouth (neat): very pure, crystalline, less oily and broad than the nose might suggest, hence a bit closer to its southern neighbour. Langoustines, oysters, granny smith apples, sea bream ceviche with lime and mint (why not?) plus green pepper and a touch of mint tea. A slight Jamaican rum aspect too, which is amusing. It's a 'good mood' whisky. With water: really, really good. In fact we're still a bit in the territory of an Islay distillery that starts with the same first three letters. Finish: same, although this time there's a more medicinal aspect coming through. Comments: it seems they really sought the DNA of Islay, rather than a more unique but perhaps more 'pretentious' and 'deviant' style. I find that clever. It's very, very, very good. And I like it that it's not NAS. I think we'll have more Ardnahoe soon.
SGP:467 - 89 points.

It's quite incredible how much Islay has changed. We will soon be republishing an old interview with a distillery manager that we conducted in 2004. You'll see just how amazing it is!

Many more young cats very soon…