Ardnamurchan 6 Years Old 2018 AD/08:18 CK1182 Distillery Exclusive

Distilled in August 2018 as part of batch AD/08:18 and bottled in 2024 from single Madeira cask CK1182, this is a 6 Years Old Ardnamurchan at 58.1% ABV. The expression was bottled without dilution as a Distillery Exclusive, sold only through the visitor centre at Glenbeg.

Production followed Ardnamurchan's standard regime. Concerto barley was 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 copper pot stills with reflux boil balls to a new make of 74 to 76% ABV. Spirit was filled at 63.5% into a single Madeira cask and matured on site at Glenbeg in dunnage warehousing for six years.

Madeira casks impart a distinctive oxidative character through compounds left by estufagem or canteiro heat ageing of the source wine. The wood retains sotolon, furfural and other Maillard products from the heat treatment, carrying across as the cooked dried fruit, caramelised sugar and nutty register that distinguishes Madeira from sherry. At six years the Madeira character is well integrated, with the cooked dried fruit register joined by the slower Maillard products that develop through hemicellulose oak sugar interaction with the spirit. Peated phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4 methylguaiacol from St Fergus Highland peat at 30 to 35 ppm) from the peated portion of the split production integrate as smoke backbone.