Ardnamurchan Spirit Drink Limited Release No. 02 (Adelphi)

Limited Release No. 02 is the second commercial bottling drawn from the Ardnamurchan distillery, released by Adelphi in 2017. As the spirit was under three years old at bottling, it carries the spirit drink designation rather than single malt Scotch whisky. Presented at 53.6% ABV from Oloroso sherry casks for the European market.

Production followed the distillery's standard regime: 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, 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 on site in dunnage warehousing at Glenbeg.

At this early age the cask programme is in its primary extract phase, with vanillin and oak lactones forming but the slower rancio chemistry of polyphenol and aldehyde oxidation still developing. Oloroso casks contribute dried fruit and nutty character from their prior sherry contact, framing rather than dominating the distillate. Peated phenols (guaiacol, syringol, 4 methylguaiacol from St Fergus Highland peat at 30 to 35 ppm) from the peated portion of the split production read at near full intensity, showing the distillate character before the slow softening that comes with extended cask interaction.