Unpeated, Golden Promise 2025 Release | 59.2% ABV

Palate Expansion?

I’ve always heard more experienced fans talk about it.

They would sometimes discuss it as a process that happened to them over time, or sometimes they would speak about it as a preference they simply always had. But, more often than not, folks would talk about it in terms of a slow shift over time, mentioning what they’d been like previously but also their surprise at where they are now, given where they were. It always seemed like a shift a good number of folks go through.

Over these last several years, I was quite happy where I was, but wondered if it would happen to me as well. Would I go through The Change? Would it sneak up on me? Would it hurt? Would I need reconstructive surgery?

I’m talking, of course, about the shift in preference to bourbon cask-matured whiskies. And, I think my palate’s taste has morphed (matured?) in this direction over the course of this year. Or, at least, its preferences have expanded.

Like a lot of you, I’ve always been pretty whisky-promiscuous, trying whatever seemed interesting without regards to distillery, brand, cask, age, or ABV. I’ve of course honed down my preferences over these last several years, and I’ve always seemed to gravitate towards the “heavier” side of the spectrum: sherry cask matured and weightier distillates. If you have a gander at my whisky shelves, you’ll see a lot of bottles from distilleries that could generally be categorized in this way: Benromach, Bunnahabhain, Springbank, Glen Scotia, Benrinnes, Ardnamurchan, Kilchoman, and a host of others. I recently seemed to have also fallen down a Mortlach rabbit hole, which seems to track, and more on that soon. Many of these I enjoy from sherry casks, which as we know tend to add depth and richness to these and other distillates. As long as it’s not overdone, of course.

I’ve always enjoyed bourbon-cask matured whiskies, but they never seemed to be my go-to style. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love some bourbon (or majority bourbon) matured malts: Glen Scotia 15, Kilkerran 12, 16, and 8 year old Bourbon Cask, Kilchoman Machir Bay, and a host of others have stood out on my mostly darker-hued shelves. I would hear folks much more experienced and knowledgeable than me talk about their preference for bourbon casks, often re-fill bourbon, as these best allow the distinctiveness of the spirit shine through without strong cask influence from Oloroso, PX, red wine, or other heavy casks. While I enjoyed many bourbon-matured whiskies, including the heavier distillates that I gravitate towards, my palate just seemed to tend towards sherry casks.

Yet it was earlier this year when I had a couple of bourbon-matured malts that have wowed me that I realized my palate has been tending more in this direction as of late. I’ve had both in the cupboard for over a year, but have only recently opened them.

The first was a staple from Loch Lomond Distillery, the Inchmurrin 12, which is composed of three kinds of casks but with a hefty bourbon influence. I’d had a bottle of the standard 12 year old, which I enjoyed thoroughly and drained relatively quickly. I had read and watched the copious praise for Loch Lomond in recent years, but had simply not gotten around to their other expressions. So, when I opened my bottle of the Inchmurrin 12 earlier this year, and as the level went down, I wondered why on earth I waited so long. Fresh, floral, vibrantly fruity, and oily; I’ve found it to be a fantastic and unique profile.

The second bottle was the now-seminal Glencadam 10 year old. Again, I’d heard all the praise, but came to it late simply because *gestures wildly at the vast choices in the contemporary whisky landscape*. Its floral, citric, full-bodied maltiness – matured in bourbon casks, many of them refill – had me hooked from literally the neck-pour dram. I’d clearly been missing out.

I started to wonder if I’d inadvertently curtailed my experience by pegging myself as a mostly “sherry” guy - wondering if I would have liked these all along. I wondered what else I’d been missing because of a label I’d loosely put on myself (despite my other self-label as whisky-promiscuous); that my palate had evidently seemed to grow beyond.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m still loving the heavier sherry stuff I’ve always loved. But, some sort of palate expansion seems to be happening and, I have to say, I’m loving it.

Review 1/4 - Drummond

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release, 2025, Unpeated Golden Promise, ex-bourbon casks, 59.2% ABV
£65 and still some availability

All of which bring us to today’s bottle from Ardnamurchan, which just so happens to be matured entirely in ex-bourbon casks.

The new Heritage Barley release seems to be part of a new series from the folks at Ardnamurchan, with the first being the much sought-after variety Golden Promise, but presumably (and hopefully) with a variety of heritage barley malts maturing out there on the shores of Loch Sunart. Ah, Golden Promise, you thick, viscous, uber-malty variety you! We’ve reviewed a few Golden Promise Ardnamurchan releases here at Dramface HQ, including from yours truly, Dougie, and Wally. TL;DR: we all loved them.

Both Dougie and myself did deep-dives into the Golden Promise barley variety and what makes it distinct, so you can read about those in the links. So when I saw Ardnamurchan was to release a small-batch (not just single cask), I jumped at the chance to try it. I wondered particularly what the blending of a small batch would taste like compared to the single cask bottles I already have.

If you scan the QR code on the bottle, it will helpfully say how this batch is composed of roughly 30 casks, all from a 2018 vintage, and all bourbon casks.

And, because it would have been wrong to hog all the fun myself, you can also find takes from Earie, Hamish and Ainsley below.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*More Golden Promise joy*

Nose

Fresh lemon-tinted coastal breeze. Sea salt, bright peaches, and barley dust. The official nosing notes list “marzipan” and “apricot jam,” and while I’m not quite getting those, their “melted butter with acacia honey on sourdough toast” seems pretty spot on for me… although I think I’m more standing in the yeasty atmosphere of a bakery than sourdough toast specifically.

Palate

Minerality and lemon biscuits. Fatty and oily. Youthful and bright, but not spirity or jagged. Salty sea breeze, rocky harbour, and very maritime – maybe the most maritime Ardna I’ve tasted. Like every other Ardna Golden Promise bottle I’ve had, the mouthfeel is terrific: again fatty and oily, viscous, and mouth-coating, although perhaps a touch less thick than this year’s earlier AD/Venturer’s Golden Promise release (also from a bourbon cask), or the George Hotel bottle (from a fantastic sherry cask) from last year.

Butterscotch, Werther’s Original, thick manuka honey, bready minerality, and lemon cake. Creamy tinned peaches, salty caramel, and a long mouth-coating, bright, lemony, coastal breeze finish.

The Dregs

There’s a lot going on here. As with the previous Golden Promise releases I’ve tried, I’m very much enjoying this. It’s a kind of Ardnamurchan cranked up to 11, with everything that I like about the distillate, but just more intense. Maltier, more coastal, brighter, more mineralic, more oily and mouth-coating.

It might sound banal, but the sheer intensity of the maltiness does set it apart from the terrific standard 46% release as well as the myriad of other cask finish releases. The maltiness is somewhat reminiscent of the liquid barley syrup that is the Bruichladdich Bere Barley, but the Ardna is somehow even more heavily, intensely, deeply malty. It’s the central flavour anchor around which the rich myriad of other notes orbit. If you’ve liked the other Ardnamurchan Golden Promise releases, then you’ll surely like this. If you haven’t been lucky enough to manage any of the previous releases – all hard-to-get single casks, admittedly – hopefully you’re able to get this much wider release, which is still available here in the UK as I write. If you’re not yet sold on Ardnamurchan, I don’t know if this will sell you, but I can say that it is a clearly distinct release from them. And, as the distillery team’s comms rightly emphasised around the time of release, this is Ardnamurchan spirit in its truest, most pure form – from the humble bourbon cask, with that unique coastal mineralic distillate shining brightly through, and from a barley variety that I hope we continue to see more of in the future.

Score: 7/10 DD

Review 2/4 - Earie

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release, 2025, Unpeated Golden Promise, ex-bourbon casks, 59.2% ABV
£65 and still some availability

Whisky finds us, and people find us too.

Whisky, despite all the challenges the industry is currently facing, is thriving. I say this for the simple reason that you only need to walk into any given whisky show, festival or tasting to stumble upon a crowded venue, up to a point where in some cases it can become slightly uncomfortable even. It’s the community, stupid.

For the first couple of years, my whisky journey was more or less one of flying solo. None of my close friends or relatives are as invested or downright geeky about the golden nectar as I am. Sure, a few like it, some really like it even, but not at that level where you start spending a good deal of your spare time talking about it and an even greater part of your disposable income learning about it, chasing it and pouring it. And while some could easily be persuaded to join me whenever I wanted to visit a festival or a tasting, I also understood that they were there first and foremost to hang out. Which, to be clear, is absolutely fine.

The irony being that, while there is absolutely no shortage of good and excellent whisky shops and whisky clubs in my vicinity, none of them are within walking/cycling/public transport range from Casa Earie. And driving home after a night of whisky indulgence is obviously out of the question.

So when I started to become invested, not just in whisky, but also in the online community – the Aqvavitae vPub, The Whiskey Novice, Jeff’s whisky, Malt Box, and many others; it was as if someone turned on the lights for a second time. Suddenly there were friendly folk literally everywhere who were just as keen and eager as me to get their geek on. Sure, a lot of them were hundreds or even thousands of miles away, but that didn’t stop us from connecting and engaging. Selfish as this may seem, in that regard the whole covid pandemic was a blessing. Suddenly everyone was stuck at home and we were all relying on our digital connections to interact and communicate. I can’t even recall the number of online tastings and casual on-line get togethers we had during that time, and it was arguably the one redeeming thing about the whole global lockdown, the one thing that helped preserve our good nature and even our sanity at times.

The silver lining (THE silver lining) was that it also initiated the transition from virtual meet-ups to meeting up in real life, as I discovered through all those hours talking at a screen that a handful of people are living no more than an hour or so on a train away from my front door. Initially just agreeing to meet up at festivals, this small group of seven or so people have since become a circle of close whisky friends, who meet up every couple of months, either at a whisky festival or in someone’s living room, for a fun afternoon and evening of whisky, talk, banter and food. And every single time, I come home with a big smile on my face. I cherish it, and I never, ever, take it for granted.

The Ardnamurchan I am discussing today comes from a few samples I picked up from none other than the wonderful Jenny Karlsson at the Spirits in the Sky festival (of course in the company of my whisky friends) about a month ago. While obviously she was there to do her job representing Ardnamurchan, I absolutely enjoyed the brief time we had to chat face to face. So this one really feels like a dram shared and raised in gratitude to all of you…

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*A subtle delight*

Nose

Viscous. Sweet and sour. A lot of lemon and barley sugar, with a green-herbaceous/herbal touch to it. Somehow it then makes a complete U-turn and now I’m getting a gentle milk chocolate note. This in turn goes back into a - sweet and sour - herbal note.

Palate

Overall very gentle, yet on a dense, chewy texture. Mainly a lot of what I picked up on the nose transfers on to the palate. While it’s not feisty, adding water (this is all but 60% ABV, after all) really helps to open it up: citrus and cereal notes now, with a distinct biscuity note. The salinity only now shows up, adding a superb maritime, mineral note which counterbalances wonderfully well with the cereal and citrus notes. This salinity then leads the way into a long, satisfying finish.

The Dregs

A more subtle approach to what Ardnamurchan has to offer, but a very convincing one. Layered, deceivingly simple (there’s a slot going on, but it goes down so easily) and almost understated, and lovely from start to finish. This is yet another pearl on Ardnamurchan’s crown!

Score: 7/10 EA

Review 3/4 - Hamish

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release, 2025, Unpeated Golden Promise, ex-bourbon casks, 59.2% ABV
£65 and still some availability

Before initially trying this one, I’d heard the new Heritage release was a standout at the London Whisky show this year. Released in a number of weeks time from hearing this (alongside their new 10 year old release) it was the first non-single cask release of Ardnamurchan made with Golden Promise barley in a bourbon cask. All casks are matured in American Standard Barrels, holding unpeated liquid from 2018.

Having nabbed a bottle of the 2018 AD/Venturers Club #1069, 2025 release and very much enjoying it, I was looking forward to picking this one up.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Proves we could all do with a little more Golden Promise*

Nose

Fresh cut grass. Herbaceous. Plums. Raisins. Stone fruits and doughy bread. Dry ramen noodles along with loose tobacco, leather and spent matches. Hints of lavender. There are sliced red apples, lemon zest and tinned apricots. Finishes with oats, Jaffa cake and a nice sweet wine element.

Palate

Chopped almonds right up front, rounding off with delicious milk chocolate and dense flapjacks. Coffee beans and whipped cream. It’s ever so slightly meaty, but complimented with a burnt sugar note and orange zest. There are cooked oats, honey stewed apples alongside cinnamon, ginger and maple syrup. It’s malty and a final blast of redcurrant is a welcome surprise.

The Dregs

I found this beautifully balanced, but it took a while to open up. After the first third of the bottle this tasted so much better than the neck shoulder pours. More sweetness and spice developed along with waves of floral notes that added depth and more complexity. It’s nicely weighted, with a good mouth feel and a long finish that contains an orange with malt essence that continues to hold onto the palate long after it’s gone.

An improvement from the AD/Venturers bottle in my opinion. Maybe more variety and range brought with the volume of American standard casks used compared to the single cask offering, but who knows?

Golden Promise and Ardnamurchan liquid seems to be a dream combo these days. Be it in bourbon or sherry, it adds a level that I don’t think fans and whisky drinkers alike thought was there in the Adelphi spirit. I think this will surprise many, due to how different it is from their foundational spirit we know today. I look forward to more of this and whatever else is in store next year from the distillery.

Score: 7/10 HF

Review 4/4 - Ainsley

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release, 2025, Unpeated Golden Promise, ex-bourbon casks, 59.2% ABV
£65 and still some availability

I got this whisky at GWF this past November. It was one of the first I tried during the day, and as soon as I had a drop of it, I put table hosts Connal and Carl on hold and flew to the shop. I remember the texture being out of this world. I’m a textural kind of man.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Deliciously unsexy yet complex*

Nose

Malty, cereal-y. Oats and cream. It feels rustic and old school. Waxy, which is always good in malt whisky if you ask me. Sponge cake, pastry shop. Croissants fresh out of the oven. Melted butter.

With water: Stays similar, but the Ardna coastal signature emerges. Wet concrete, salty heather (I don’t know, I wrote that in my notebook). Savory puff pastry.

Palate

Rich, thick, salty and malty. Porridge. Very coherent with the nose, which is quite rare in my experience. Croissants, bread dough. That texture man, it’s even thicker than the Good Spirits bottling from last year!

With water: Noticeably saltier, again, echoing the nose. Still very much on those malty and slightly sweet vibes. Maybe a bit of lemon oil.

The Dregs

Delicious, unsexy, yet complex whisky. One that will reward you the more time you spend with it. It’s rare to try a whisky that is so much about the texture and the mouthfeel. That’s why heritage grains draw me in in the first place, so I’d say good job to all the Ardnamurchan boys and girls. Keep’em coming.

Score: 7/10 AF

Bonus Review - Wally

Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release, 2025, Unpeated Golden Promise, ex-bourbon casks, 59.2% ABV
£65 and still some availability

I’m motivated by my pals to tear the seal on my second bottle of this. In preparing things for publication, I’ve built this article up of an evening and - while I’m usually robust enough to resist - I find myself salivating at the tasting notes from my esteemed and enthusiastic peers.

I simply have to dive in.

Don’t judge me. I’ve squeezed in my three dry nights this week (I didn’t count a glass of red on Sunday) and I'd only taken the first bottle to the shoulder before I gifted what was left to my pal in Speyside. He’s building a wee whisky club up there in Boat Of Garten and I thought a wee bottle of Golden Promise Magic might set the chatter alight. I’d already received a second bottle as a gift, so I knew I had a backup. And now it’s popped.

It seems I’m weak; I can’t see green cheese without watering at the mouth. But if we take in all of those notes from everyone above, they’re like a Greatest Hits of Ex-bourbs Magic: fat, creamy, biscuity, oily, malty, salinity, minerality, baked goods, confectionary and yellow citrus. I mean, how can I not get sucked in by all of that?

So, with the article built and good-to-go, why am I sticking my nose in? Abuse of editor privilege? Certainly.

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
**TL;DR**
*It’s not just about the mouthfeel, it’s how that affects flavour, and it’s the privilege*

Nose

Everything they said… some green orchard fruit and unripe pears too.

Palate

Everything they said also. But I’m motivated to add that, if there’s any of this still around in years to come, when it’s a teenager it’ll be peerless.

The Dregs

You see, I’m halfway through my glass and I’m simply compelled to add my own wee thoughts. I’m inspired by the descriptions of my pals here, so much so that I simply do not need to add any significant notes of my own - they have them all covered. But I’m also inspired by the bottle, as a concept and harbinger of whisky future.

I think, as a wider network of whisky appreciators, botherers, flavour-chasers and certainly as reviewers; if we don’t dwell upon how remarkable this is, I think we are in danger of becoming a little… I don’t know… Entitled? Let me explain.

There was a time that whisky made from Golden Promise barley was the stuff of history. The preserve of the wealthy or the connected. Old Macallans and Glengoyne, for example, back from a time when ‘everything was better’. As a glass of Golden Promise malt was sipped, heads were nodded in solemn reverence and agreement in appreciation of ‘How Things Used To Be’.

Yet, today, we have a fairly large-scale outturn release from one of the shiniest and brightest ‘new wave’ distilleries in existence, freely available in the markets it’s exported to, made from 100% Golden Promise barley with full transparency, provenance, age statements and all you could possibly need to know (you may need to use the QR code, but it’s fun) and selling for £65.

Let us remind ourselves that ‘Golden Promise’ not only sounds expensive, it is expensive. More expensive to buy and more expensive to work with, and with a lower yield. In many ways, going back in time doesn’t make sense.

Even back in the ‘good ol’ days’ we’d have found such a prospect inconceivable. Yet, we’re here.

The fact that it has an appreciably different character adds so much credence to the geek chatter of thirty years ago, because what everyone who cared understood back then - because it was obvious - the grain did absolutely make a difference.

In the pursuit of litres-per-tonne efficiency, assurances were thrown around that it did not; yet many knew - without a single iota of doubt - that it absolutely did. It wasn’t just texture, but what that added mouthfeel did to add layers of flavour appreciation. Yet the machinations of industry rolled forward and we lost the detail and texture to time.

Yet somehow, incredibly, today we live in an era where we walk amongst the fortunate who can try this for themselves, compare for themselves and decide for themselves.

No dusty old antiques, no auction trawls, no bartering or buying by the dram at whisky fairs. Fresh, lovely, affordable, available, fresh and glorious. Did I mention fresh? I’m already hoping there’s a 2026 release.

I think that’s something special.

Score: 8/10 WMc

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DD

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