Ardmore 14 Year Old 2000 Cask #AM 042 (Asta Morris)

A 14 year old single cask Ardmore released by Belgian indie Asta Morris in 2015, distilled in 2000 and bottled at 51.3% natural strength. Asta Morris, operated by Bert Bruyneel, has built one of the most respected small format Belgian indie operations across the 2010s and 2020s, with a reputation for tight cask selection and consistent quality across small outturns. The 2000 vintage falls in the final year of direct coal firing at Kennethmont. 181 bottles for the Belgian market from cask #AM 042.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2000, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the wash stills' direct coal heating regime that ran until early 2001. Fourteen years brought the strength to 51.3%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at this maturity gives a quiet oak frame around distillery character. Cis whisky lactone reads as soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin shows as light custard. 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 at the centre, with inland peat reading as heather smoke, dry leaf and an earthy phenolic note at integrated moderate intensity.