Ardmore 10 Year Old 2008 Cask #800168 (La Maison du Whisky Artist #8)

A 10 year old single cask Ardmore released by La Maison du Whisky in 2018 under the Artist series, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 60.3% natural strength. La Maison du Whisky operates from Paris as one of Europe's most established single malt merchants, with the Artist series running since the 1990s as an illustrated single cask programme that has now passed through multiple numbered editions. The 60.3% outturn strength after ten years indicates a tightly sealed cask with low evaporative loss. 233 bottles for the European market from cask #800168.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2008, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Ten years brought the strength only marginally below fill, holding at 60.3% with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at high outturn strength reads with a tight oak frame. Cis whisky lactone gives soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin shows as light custard. Steam era distillate lacks the coal era Maillard register, leaving cleaner apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component prominently at the centre. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity rather than dominant smoke. Honeyed barley closes the finish.