Ardnamurchan AD/The Midgie Batch 2

Ardnamurchan AD/The Midgie Batch 2

Region: Highlands

ABV: 48.0%

Price: £54.00 

Vatted from 25% peated and 75% unpeated Ardnamurchan spirit, matured in a mix of 50% ex-bourbon barrels, 48 % Port barriques and 2% sherry casks. 17,000 bottles were released. 

Nose

The nose opens with roast beef aromas - more specifically roast beef and mustard crisps, streaky bacon, a little tinned pineapple, honey roast ham, lemon drops, and an underlying vegetal peat smoke. It's like we're at a barbecue, lots of glazed meats roasting away over charcoal. We're also finding a little bread dough, desiccated coconut and salty sea water. It's got quite a lot going on, and there's a real mixture between sweet and savoury coming through. The alcohol is also well balanced, a touch of ginger spice in the background but nothing overpowering.

Palate

The palate opens with dark cherry chocolate brownies up front, moving into some crushed black pepper, brandy snaps, cranberry juice and something a little plasticky. Quite a juxtaposition from the nose, the meaty flavours are almost non-existent and the ruby port casks are taking centre stage with lots of red and black fruits. The mouthfeel is decent, perhaps a tad thin, but the finish does linger for a good while with more dark chocolate and cherry flavours. Like the nose, the alcohol is very subtle, there's a slight warmth left by the dram but it's soft and inviting. The peat smoke is also very very light on the palate, we get a little earthiness if we look for it but we'd miss it if we never knew it had peated malt in the vatting.  

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a little more of the bourbon cask component shining through for us, vanilla, caramel and coconut mostly, with a tinge of earthen mustiness right in the background. A lot of those overt savoury notes have disappeared, and it feels a little simpler, less interesting now.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more of a sweet, spritzy, sherbety thing going on, still with those red and black fruits, and still with hints of cocoa, but more of an earthy flavour starts to appear on the back palate. It's not changed too much, but we'd skip the water here, it's not needed.

Conclusion

Meaty on the nose, sweet & fruity on the palate - a little unexpected, but really quite tasty. There's great structure here, lots of cask influence but still we can get a bit of that west Highland character shining through. Dangerously drinkable.

Score: 7.5/10

Value

We’d have liked to see this a few pounds cheaper, but the price is in line with the distillery’s other small batch releases.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

If you like what you’ve read then check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get notifications of when we post a new review or just to chat about whisky with us.