Ardmore 26 Year Old 1995 Cask #7883 Oloroso (Gordon & MacPhail)

A 26 year old single cask Ardmore released by Gordon & MacPhail in 2021 under the Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength banner, distilled in 1995 and matured exclusively in a single Oloroso sherry butt. The bottle yield of 549 indicates a full sherry butt fill rather than a hogshead or refill format, an unusual configuration for long aged Ardmore which more commonly appears from ex Bourbon stock. The 1995 vintage sits inside the Allied Distillers period when nearly all distillate was earmarked for Teacher's Highland Cream and single malt outturns came almost exclusively from indie warehouse holdings.

Filled at 63.5% into a single Oloroso butt in 1995, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont under the direct coal fired wash still regime that defined every Ardmore vintage between 1898 and early 2001. Twenty six years brought the strength down to 52.7%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

A long Oloroso butt fill produces sherry character that reaches well into the spirit. 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 register. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols sit folded into the wood derived depth as dry leaf, heather smoke and a peat hearth note. Eugenol and vanillin from the seasoned oak give clove and warm baking spice through the finish.