Ardnamurchan 2018 AD/ Madeira Cask Release 7 Years Old

Released in 2025 from 2018 distilled spirit, this Madeira Cask Release is a 7 Years Old Ardnamurchan bottled at 52% ABV. Primary maturation in ex Bourbon casks was followed by a finishing period in casks that previously held Madeira, the heat aged fortified wine of the Portuguese island. The distillery filled 19,598 bottles for global distribution.

Both peated and unpeated production runs feed this release. Concerto barley is milled into a copper topped semi lauter mash tun, fermented 72 to 120 hours on a single strain distiller's yeast, then double distilled through wash and spirit stills with reflux boil balls to a new make of 74 to 76% ABV. Spirit was filled at 63.5% and matured at Glenbeg in dunnage warehousing before the Madeira finishing transfer.

Madeira maturation imparts a distinctive oxidative character through compounds left by estufagem or canteiro heat ageing, where the wine is held at heat to develop a cooked dried fruit profile distinct from sherry. The wood retains sotolon, furfural and other Maillard products from the heat treatment, carrying across as the dried fruit, sherried, nutty and chocolate notes in the profile. Old wood and malt extract reflect the longer ex Bourbon primary phase. Peated phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4 methylguaiacol from St Fergus Highland peat at 30 to 35 ppm) from the peated portion integrate as smoke behind the cooked fruit foreground.