Ardmore 16 Year Old 2005 (The Whisky Agency)

A 16 year old single cask Ardmore released by The Whisky Agency in 2022, distilled in 2005 and bottled at 51.3% natural strength. Carsten Ehrlich's Hamburg based operation has built one of the most respected German indie reputations of the 2000s and 2010s, with Ardmore appearing consistently across Whisky Agency releases for over a decade. The 2005 vintage falls in the early steam era at Kennethmont, well after the 2001 wash still heating conversion. 330 bottles for the European market.

Distilled in 2005 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. Sixteen years brought the strength to 51.3%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling. The peat load and 54 to 55 hour fermentation on Mauri and Kerry yeast both stayed at standard distillery spec.

Refill Bourbon at this age frames distillery character cleanly. Cis whisky lactone gives soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin builds a baked custard register. Steam era distillate reads cleaner than coal era stock, with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component sitting prominently at the centre. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity.