Ardnamurchan 2016 AD/ Sauternes Cask Release 8 Years Old

Released in 2024 from 2016 distilled spirit, this Sauternes Cask Release is an 8 Years Old Ardnamurchan bottled at 50% ABV. The expression combines ex Bourbon primary maturation with finishing in casks that previously held Sauternes, the botrytised sweet wine of Bordeaux's southern Graves region.

Production at Ardnamurchan starts with Concerto barley milled into a copper topped semi lauter mash tun, fermented 72 to 120 hours in seven stainless steel washbacks on a single strain distiller's yeast. Double distillation through wash and spirit stills with reflux boil balls reaches a new make of 74 to 76% ABV. Spirit was filled at 63.5% for primary maturation in ex Bourbon casks, then transferred to ex Sauternes casks for finishing on site at Glenbeg in dunnage warehousing.

Sauternes maturation imparts a distinct character through residual sugars and the compounds left by Botrytis cinerea, the noble rot fungus that concentrates sugars and develops aroma compounds in the source grapes. The wood retains glycerol, honeyed lactones and the apricot and honeysuckle notes associated with botrytised wine. The ex Bourbon base contributes vanillin and oak lactone structure beneath. Peated phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4 methylguaiacol from St Fergus Highland peat at 30 to 35 ppm) from the peated portion of split production carry as smoke that contrasts the sweet wine derived honey character, building tension between dry phenolic register and stone fruit sweetness.