Ardmore 9 Year Old 2008 Cask #708496 (Berry Bros & Rudd)

A 9 year old single cask Ardmore released by Berry Bros & Rudd in 2018, distilled in 2008 and bottled at 54.6% natural strength. Berry Bros & Rudd's single cask programme has run from their Number Three St James's Street base in London since the 1990s, with Ardmore appearing across multiple releases over the decades. Cask #708496 sits in the operation's house numbering for the period. The 2008 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership era at Kennethmont. Bottled for the Belgian market.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2008, the spirit matured in dunnage at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Nine years brought the strength to 54.6%, with no chill filtration applied at bottling.

Refill Bourbon at this age frames distillery character cleanly. Cis whisky lactone gives soft coconut and pine, vanillin from oak lignin builds a baked custard register. Steam era distillate reads cleaner than coal era stock, with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component sitting prominently at the centre. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity rather than dominant smoke. Honeyed barley closes the finish.