Ardbeg 10 Years Old 1993 Sherry Hogshead (Cadenhead’s)

Cadenhead's is Scotland's oldest established indie bottler, founded in Aberdeen in 1842 and acquired in 1972 by J&A Mitchell, owners of Springbank, who relocated the operation to Campbeltown. The Authentic Collection was launched in 1989 alongside the Original Collection as a single cask programme presenting unfiltered, uncoloured, cask strength bottlings. Cadenhead's holds an unusually deep stock of 1993 and 1994 Ardbeg, acquired from Allied Distillers during the cash strapped intermittent reopening years before the 1996 final closure.

Filled into a refill sherry hogshead in 1993 and matured for ten years before bottling in April 2004 at 59.8% ABV, unfiltered, uncoloured, 294 bottles drawn at natural strength. The sherry hogshead is the standout among the four 1993 10 year old Cadenhead's released that year, the other three drawn from refill bourbon hogshead.

Refill sherry hogsheads (250 litre format) deliver gentler sherry expression than first fill butts, with polyphenols (gallic acid, ellagic acid) from Spanish oak, melanoidins from residual sherry, and modest rancio sotolon contributing across the ten year maturation. Layered onto Allied era 1993 peat phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4 methylguaiacol, p cresol), the sherry chemistry shifts the smoke register toward dried orange, almond skin, leather and bitter chocolate. The Ardbeg purifier ester signature persists beneath as concentrated citrus and tropical fruit, distinctive against the bourbon hogshead siblings.