Ardmore 22 Year Old 1996 Cask #149021 Oloroso (Whiskybroker)

A 22 year old single cask Ardmore released by Whiskybroker in 2019 under the Galloway Series, distilled in 1996 and bottled at 59%. Cask #149021 sits in a tight cluster with #149022 (A.D. Rattray), #149026 and #149027 (both Adelphi), all four from the same 1996 warehouse run but with this one filled into Oloroso rather than ex Bourbon. The vintage falls inside the Allied Distillers period that fed nearly all production into Teacher's Highland Cream. 136 bottles for Germany, an unusually small outturn suggesting a sherry hogshead format or significant evaporative loss.

Filled at 63.5% into a single Oloroso cask in 1996, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont. The wash stills ran on direct coal firing through the distillation, producing the heavier oily texture associated with pre 2001 Ardmore. Twenty two years brought the strength to 59% naturally, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Oloroso maturation at high outturn strength gives concentrated sherry expression. Polyphenol oxidation reads as walnut and dried fig, with melanoidins from the seasoning building dark caramelised fruit depth. Coal era Maillard products from direct flame distillation amplify the dark sugar register. Eugenol and vanillin from the seasoned oak give clove and baking spice. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols fold into the wood derived intensity as dry leaf, heather smoke and peat hearth in the finish.