Ardmore 12 Year Old 2009 Cask #706023 (Valinch & Mallet)

A 12 year old single cask Ardmore released by Valinch & Mallet in 2021, distilled in 2009 and bottled at 52.2% natural strength with an Oloroso profile. Valinch & Mallet is an Italian independent bottler founded in 2014 by Andrea Ferrari, with a focus on bold cask selections drawn from European cask broker stock. The bottler has built a reputation for natural strength single cask releases with strong visual identity on labels. 338 bottles for the German market from cask #706023. The 2009 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont with steam heating on the wash stills since 2001.

Filled at 63.5% into Oloroso seasoned European oak in 2009, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Twelve years brought the strength to 52.2%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Oloroso at this maturity drives rancio compounds, dried fruit oxidation products and tannic structure. Furfural and 5 hydroxymethylfurfural from the wood read as walnut and toasted hazelnut. Quercetin tannins give a dry grip across the palate. Steam era distillate underneath shows apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component, with the 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols reading as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at integrated intensity. Kippery coal gas smoke notes through the palate sit alongside fresh fruit on a long savoury finish.