Ardmore 22 Year Old 2000 Cask #2 Oloroso (van Wees)

A 22 year old Ardmore released by Dutch independent van Wees in 2022 under The Ultimate Cask Strength banner, distilled in 2000 and matured in a single Oloroso sherry cask. Van Wees has operated as one of the most established Dutch independents since the 1960s, with The Ultimate range carrying their standard single cask single malt programme. The 697 bottle outturn for cask #2 indicates a full sherry butt fill, a notably large format for Ardmore which more commonly appears from refill or hogshead casks. The 2000 vintage sits at the end of the direct coal fired era.

Filled at 63.5% into a single Oloroso butt in 2000, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont. The wash stills ran on direct coal firing through the distillation, the heating regime that defined every Ardmore vintage between 1898 and early 2001. Twenty two years brought the strength to 54.2%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Long Oloroso butt maturation produces concentrated sherry character. Polyphenol oxidation builds rancio depth, with melanoidins from the seasoning reading as walnut, fig paste and dark caramelised fruit. Coal era furfurals from direct flame distillation amplify the dark sugar and pastry register. Eugenol and vanillin from the seasoned oak give clove and warm baking spice. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols carry as dry leaf, heather smoke and peat hearth folded into the wood derived intensity.