Ardmore 22 Year Old 2000 Cask #1693 Oloroso (Gordon & MacPhail)

A 22 year old single cask Ardmore released by Gordon & MacPhail in 2023 under the Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength banner, distilled in 2000 and matured exclusively in a single Oloroso sherry cask. Cask #1693 sits in a tight fill pairing with sister cask #1695 (G&M Connoisseurs Choice 2021), both drawn from the same Oloroso run of 2000 Ardmore. The vintage falls in the final year of direct coal firing at Kennethmont, with the 2001 transition to steam ending a 103 year heating regime. 211 bottles for the European market.

Filled at 63.5% into a single Oloroso seasoned cask in 2000, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont. Twenty two years brought the strength to 55.3% naturally, with no chill filtration applied at bottling. The peat load at 12 to 14 ppm phenol and the 54 to 55 hour fermentation on Mauri and Kerry yeast both ran at standard distillery spec.

Long Oloroso maturation drives the dominant cask register. Polyphenol oxidation builds rancio depth, with melanoidins from the seasoning reading as walnut, fig paste and dark caramelised fruit. Coal era Maillard products from direct flame distillation amplify the dark sugar and pastry layer. Eugenol and vanillin from the seasoned oak give clove and warm baking spice. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols carry through as dry leaf, heather smoke and a peat hearth note that integrates with the wood derived intensity.