Ardnahoe 6 Year, Fèis Ìle 2025
1st fill bourbon barrels producing 1,116 bottles
59.8% abv
Ardnahoe is the only scotch distillery with wormtubs. One thus might expect a meatier distillate, but not getting that here. Jim McEwan helped develop this distillery, but recently for sale. Apparently it has fantastic views.
Nose: Creamy, lemon. Vanilla. A touch of smoke. Sweet tart candies. Waft of tobacco. Slightly astringent synthetic note.
Palate: Big. A bit hot. Rush of pepper and vanilla. Faint heather, honey sweet. Ends on brine, transitioning to the finish. Solid mouthfeel, leaning oily. Water tempers the heat very well, but mouthfeel suffers for it a bit. I’ll take the tradeoff.
Finish: Light caramel. Smoke. Sweet undertones. Lingers nicely. A bit Highland Park-esque as I sniff it now and become more familiar with the more nuanced notes.
This one really grew on me. Took nicely to a couple drops of water. Not special, but a lot of very nice things going on. I could see giving a higher score for this as I worked my way through a bottle.
Score: 3.5/5
Mental Image: Islay’s Highland Park