Ardmore 12 Year Old 2008 Cask #CM 267 (The House of MacDuff)

A 12 year old single cask Ardmore released by The House of MacDuff in 2020 under the Golden Cask Reserve range, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 59.3% natural strength. The House of MacDuff has operated as a small format indie bottler since the early 2000s, with the Golden Cask Reserve range carrying the longer aged single cask outturns. The 59.3% outturn strength and small 111 bottle yield suggest a tightly sealed cask with low evaporative loss but limited starting fill. The 2008 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont. 111 bottles for Europe.

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. Twelve years brought the strength to 59.3%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at high outturn strength reads with a tight oak frame. Cis whisky lactone gives soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin shows as light custard. Steam era distillate lacks the coal era Maillard register, leaving cleaner apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component 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.