Ardmore 23 Year Old 1998 Cask #750768 (Elixir Distillers)

A 23 year old single cask Ardmore released by Elixir Distillers in 2022 under The Single Malts of Scotland banner, distilled in 1998 and bottled at 51.2% natural strength. Cask #750768 sits in a tight fill cluster with Elixir's own #750764 (SMOS 2021), #750789 (Whisky Trail 2019) and A.D. Rattray's #750802 (2019), all four drawn from the same warehouse run of 1998 Ardmore. 223 bottles for the European market.

Distilled in 1998 from peated Aberdeenshire malt at the 12 to 14 ppm phenol level, the spirit was filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask and matured in dunnage at Kennethmont. The wash stills operated on direct coal firing throughout the distillation. Twenty three years brought the strength to 51.2%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at this maturity frames distillery character cleanly. Cis whisky lactone gives soft coconut and pine, vanillin and syringaldehyde from oak lignin build a baked custard and light caramel layer. Coal era furfurals from direct flame distillation carry through as toasted oat and brown sugar. Apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component sit prominently, with inland peat reading as heather smoke, dry leaf and an earthy phenolic note at integrated moderate intensity rather than dominant smoke.