Ardmore 12 Year Old 2009 Cask #191340 (Duncan Taylor)

A 12 year old single cask Ardmore released by Duncan Taylor in 2022, distilled in 2009 and bottled at 54.9% natural strength. Duncan Taylor is one of the oldest independent stock holders in Scotch whisky, founded in 1938 and based in Huntly in Aberdeenshire just a short distance from Ardmore Distillery itself. The operation holds extensive single cask inventory across multiple distilleries and releases under various range names including their core Single Cask line. 213 bottles for the French market from cask #191340. 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 a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2009, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Twelve years brought the strength to 54.9%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at this maturity gives a clean oak frame around distillery character. Cis whisky lactone reads as soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin shows as light custard, with syringaldehyde adding a faint clove edge. Steam era distillate sits prominently at the centre with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component. 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.