Ardmore 9 Year Old 2010 Cask #804541 (A.D. Rattray)

A 9 year old single cask Ardmore released by A.D. Rattray in 2020, distilled in 2010 and bottled at 56.5% natural strength. A.D. Rattray is a long established Scotch whisky operation founded in 1868 by Andrew Dewar Rattray, currently based in Ayrshire under the ownership of the Morrison family with an extensive independent bottler programme alongside their blending and brokerage work. The Individual Cask Release range carries their core single cask single malt line. 217 bottles for the event market from cask #804541. The 2010 vintage falls in the early Beam Global ownership period at Kennethmont with steam heating on the wash stills since 2001.

Filled at 63.5% into a single ex Bourbon refill American oak cask in 2010, the spirit matured at Kennethmont under the post 2001 steam heating regime. Nine years brought the strength to 56.5%, 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, with syringaldehyde adding a faint clove edge. Steam era distillate sits prominently at the centre with apple and pear esters from the Kerry yeast component, with a fresh fruit register. The 12 to 14 ppm peat phenols read as heather smoke, dry leaf and earthy phenolic at moderate integrated intensity. New wood and vanilla close the finish.