Ardmore 10 Year Old 2008 Cask #AM 094 (Asta Morris)

A 10 year old single cask Ardmore released by Belgian indie Asta Morris in 2019, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 54% natural strength. Bert Bruyneel's Asta Morris operation has built one of the most respected small format Belgian indie reputations across the 2010s and 2020s, with a focus on tight cask selection and consistent quality across small outturns. The AM 094 cask number identifies this within Asta Morris's house numbering system. The 2008 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont. 272 bottles for the European market.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2008, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Ten years brought the strength to 54%, 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 vanilla custard. 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 rather than dominant smoke.