Ardmore 13 Year Old 2009 Cask #707576 (The Caskhound)

A 13 year old single cask Ardmore released by The Caskhound in 2023 under the Friends of Caskhound series, distilled in 2009 and bottled at 51.3% natural strength across a combination of ex Bourbon and Oloroso maturation. The Caskhound operates from Germany with focus on natural strength single cask single malt releases drawn from European cask broker stock. The Friends of Caskhound series carries select releases tied to bottler community releases. 175 bottles for the German market from cask #707576. The 2009 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont, with the high cask number indicating Beam era distillery fill numbering.

Filled at 63.5% into ex Bourbon refill American oak in 2009, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime before transfer into an Oloroso seasoned cask for the latter stages. Thirteen years brought the strength to 51.3%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Oloroso finishing delivers rancio compounds, dried fruit oxidation products and tannic structure on top of the Bourbon base. Furfural from the oxidative wood reads as walnut and toasted hazelnut. Steam era distillate sits at the centre with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component, and the 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at integrated intensity. Chocolate notes from sherry wood close a long finish.