Ardnamurchan Spirit 2017/AD Adelphi

The Ardnamurchan distillery hasn't yet released any whisky, but their bottlings of malt spirit which aren't quite old enough to be labelled as whisky have been incredibly popular indeed! Ardnamurchan Spirit 2017 AD is made using a combination of both peated and unpeated spirit aged in Sherry casks. Both the sweet and peaty notes are punchy indeed - we're excited to see what is coming next......   NOSE: Remarkable colour. Big and smoky with woodsmoke to the fore, then an aroma of freshly-felled timber and a surprising whiff of artichoke. As it develops, it morphs into agave: dusty, horse sweat, lumberyard, creosote a quality which is accentuated with water. PALATE: More oak and, while sweet (pear), is obviously young. The roasted note once again hitches it to the pommel of mezcal, as does the hickory smoke. A lightly bittersweet syrup element and coal tar. Water shows it to be thick, rich and fruity (once the smoke calms itself down). FINISH: Bold and smoked.