Ardmore 8 Year Old 2013 Cask #800176 (Tales & Oak)

An 8 year old single cask Ardmore released by Tales & Oak in 2022, distilled in 2013 and bottled at 53.2% natural strength. Tales & Oak is a small Belgium based independent bottler with focus on natural strength single cask single malt releases drawn from European cask broker stock. The very tight 66 bottle outturn suggests this was a partial fill remainder or a cask drawn very late. Bottled for the Belgian market from cask #800176. The 2013 vintage falls in the early years of Suntory Holdings ownership of Ardmore via Beam Suntory, formed by the 2014 acquisition.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2013, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Eight years brought the strength to 53.2%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at this maturity gives a clean oak frame around distillery character. Cis whisky lactone reads as soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin shows as light custard. Steam era distillate sits prominently at the centre with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component, with a fresh fruit register from extended ester development. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity. Hay like malt extract, honey, new wood and vanilla close the finish.