Ardmore 17 Year Old 2002 Cask #AM 219 (Hidden Spirits)

A 17 year old single cask Ardmore released by Italian independent Hidden Spirits in 2019, distilled in 2002 and bottled at 52.7% natural strength. Hidden Spirits operates from Italy with a recognisable label aesthetic and tightly curated single cask programme, with Ardmore appearing in their range across multiple releases through the late 2010s and 2020s. The 2002 vintage falls in the early steam era at Kennethmont, the first full year after the 2001 conversion of the wash stills from direct coal firing. 226 bottles for the European market from cask #AM 219.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2002, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont through the Allied Distillers, Fortune Brands and early Beam Global ownership periods. Seventeen years brought the strength to 52.7%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Steam era Ardmore presents a slightly cleaner profile than coal era stock, with the direct flame Maillard register absent. Refill Bourbon at this maturity gives cis whisky lactone as coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin as light custard. Apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast fermentation sit prominently at the centre, with the 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols reading as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate intensity rather than dominant smoke.