Ardmore 13 Year Old 2008 Cask #801133 (Meadowside Blending The Maltman)

A 13 year old single cask Ardmore released by Meadowside Blending in 2021 under The Maltman range, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 51.5% natural strength. Meadowside Blending operates from Glasgow with The Maltman as their primary single cask single malt programme, running since the late 2000s with consistent output across multiple distilleries. The 2008 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont, with steam era distillation in operation. 283 bottles for the European market from cask #801133.

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. Thirteen years brought the strength to 51.5%, 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, syringaldehyde adds a hint of clove. 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.