4.8/5 with 11,500+ reviews
A limited release designed to capture late Ardnahoe founder and chairman Stewart Laing’s vision for the distillery, Ardnahoe Chairman’s Selection was composed to Laing’s personal specifications from a selection of older spirit matured chiefly in first-fill sherry casks. The distillery’s set-up – large stills, exceptionally long lyne arms and, very unusually for a new distillery, worm tubs – makes for a layered, elegant spirit equally at home in American or European oak. For some whisky drinkers, though, there is no marriage more compelling than that between heavily peated spirit and first-fill sherry, a balancing act that often seems to bring out the best in both. That’s the route Ardnahoe have taken here, in fact selecting their most heavily peated spirit to date for the sherry-cask treatment and bottling it at its natural cask strength of 60.2% abv. This enables the drinker to experience the whisky’s full power – or to adjust to their liking with water. Bottled free from chill filtration or artificial colour.
Earthy smoke, sea-salt and bitter chocolate circle on the nose, the smoke deepening and intensifying on the palate as creamy citrus, barley sugars and plum compote introduce themselves. Salty toffees, cracked black pepper and the fading embers of a peat bonfire colour the dry, lingering finish. Sláinte, Stewart.
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