Ardmore 10 Year Old 2013 Cask #800623 (Best Dram)

A 10 year old single cask Ardmore released by Best Dram in 2023, distilled in 2013 and bottled at 58.3% natural strength after a Pomerol wine cask finish. Best Dram operates from Germany with focus on natural strength single cask single malt releases. Pomerol is one of the prestige right bank Bordeaux wine appellations known for Merlot dominant structure with smaller plantings of Cabernet Franc, producing wines of dense fruited structure and tannic precision. 251 bottles for the European market from cask #800623. The 2013 vintage falls in the early Suntory Holdings ownership period at Kennethmont via Beam Suntory, formed by the 2014 acquisition.

Filled at 63.5% into ex Bourbon refill American oak in 2013, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime before transfer into a Pomerol wine cask for the finishing stage. Ten years brought the strength to 58.3%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Pomerol finishing contributes Merlot derived anthocyanin pigments, tannins and a residual wine sugar register on top of the Bourbon base. The wine compounds read as black plum, cherry and a faintly resinous structure. Steam era distillate underneath shows apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component, with the 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols reading as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity. Citric, coal gas smoke, cooked fruit, medicinal and tobacco notes close a long fruited finish.