SMWS Ardmore 9yo
66.231 Honey in the Grill Tray | 62.3% ABV
Score: 9/10
Exceptional.
TL;DR
I wondered if such a discovery could be possible
What’s your favourite whisky?
The idea of having a single, outright favourite thing within any hobby is rarer than people might think.
Whether it’s crafting, gaming, reading, or whisky, the answer is almost always the same: it depends. A straight answer rarely follows, and that’s not dodging the question, in fact it’s acknowledging nuance.
Our interests, especially those we pursue for enjoyment, aren’t fixed. Tastes shift, moods change, and preferences evolve. What works for one person might do absolutely nothing for the next, and that’s exactly what makes discussion interesting. Imagine how dull it would be if we all liked the same things, chased the same flavours, and landed on the same conclusions.
It’s not always like this, I mean, I can name my top five movies and music albums pretty easily - even if the order isn’t fixed. Even if this changes, it’s nothing like the journey of preference development we experience with whisky, wine or even beer. Food is also different. But the best food is pizza. No discussions to be had.
It took me a good few years of drinking whisky to understand what I genuinely enjoy and actively seek out. At the beginning, the sheer breadth of flavour, bottle availability, and expressions were overwhelming. It’s a slippery slope for anyone starting out. Once you begin to identify broad preferences such as peated versus non-peated; light and fruity or heavy and malty etc, you can start exploring similar profiles across regions and countries. Then the cask type enters the picture. Ex-bourbon tends to be my comfort zone, but I still enjoy sherry finishes, and even the occasional wine cask can surprise me. With each added variable, the idea of a single standout favourite becomes harder to justify.
When people who don’t really drink whisky ask me what my favourite bottle is, I always hit them with the 'it depends' response, but I do try to follow that up with what that actually means: What season is it? Have I just worked a difficult shift? What’s my mood? Those responses often show a look of disgust or a, 'sorry I asked' expression. But it's hard to get across why it’s so hard choosing a favourite.
However, I've had a breakthrough.
This isn’t a matter of me forcing myself to define one favourite bottle, today’s subject just happens to be a standout one for me in my many years of drinking whisky and I want to share why.
The vast majority of bottles that I own are Scotch, and that's not for the want of trying other categories. I've found myself continually drawn towards malts from Ardmore, Balmenach and more recently new distilleries such as Lochlea, Glasgow and Ardnamurchan. As mentioned before I like other categories such as Irish whiskey but, most of the time, the price is not worth the liquid in the bottle. Same goes for the available bourbons I can pick up and - nothing against bourbon here - I find it’s just a narrower spectrum of flavour compared to what Scotch can offer, based on my own personal purchases and experiences.
Even sticking to ‘just’ Scotch we discover an unending selection of options. We can attempt a broad yes/no strategy though and use its huge variety and complexity to attempt to make decisions at each fork in the road of style, to at least narrow our preferences.
For instance, we’ve covered that there's normally an early fork in the road decision between unpeated or peated; easy. But from here we might decide on cask maturation; ex-bourbon, sherry, wine or whatever else. Or maybe favourite distilleries - but even this seemingly precise move can demand decisions on wildly varying choices. Consider the endless styles of malt from Loch Lomond, for example, with its straight or swan necked stills or copper column, its cut points, fermentation times and yeast varieties, and all of that before it’s even touched a cask.
These days, almost all Scottish malt distilleries are offering hugely varied takes on the malts they make and release and all of this complexity makes the question of a favourite harder at each new offering. And all of this before we throw in the temperamental, volatile elements: such as us and our context, of course.
What have we eaten? What glasses are we using? Are we hosting guests? Sitting alone? My own choices change with my mood, and situations demand different things as they interact with certain flavours. Not to mention my preferences and favoured styles changing hugely over time.
Considering how varied and fickle whisky exploration is, I didn't think I'd ever be able to commit an answer to the question, 'what's your favourite whisky?'.
But today, I can. I have an answer. It's an SMWS bottle of Ardmore.
And it’s a belter.
Review
Ardmore 11yo, SMWS 66.231, ‘Honey in the Grill Tray’, distilled September 10th 2012, bottled 7th July 2022, 7 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, finished in a refill ex-rum (Trinidad) barrel, 239 bottle outturn, 62.3% ABV
£45+ fees at auction, now sold out
Score: 9/10
Exceptional.
TL;DR
I wondered if such a discovery could be possible
Nose
Pineapple juice. Strawberry bonbons. Gummy bears and jelly babies. Sugar syrup with cinnamon swirl pastry. Fresh ginger. Whole cashew nuts with a hint of nutmeg and rum soaked raisins. Warm honey. Stewed apple. Desiccated coconut with a little waft of sweet smoke lingering in the background. Fresh cut red apple and vanilla sponge.
Palate
Initially a lick of menthol. It’s malty, potent and grabs your attention. Super sweet, which I like, but there’s complexity here and grip for days. Bit of a meaty element too, it’s the hook from the first sip that has me wondering where this is going next. It’s smoked ham and pineapple rings paired nicely with apple sauce. That cashew element on the nose is more of a cashew nutter with plain crackers and a soft cheese. Strawberry laces and raspberry syrup in the mixture.
This has such a super long finish to it. Lemon and pastry comes into the scene with cinnamon and whole dates sprinkled with cocoa. Back end rounding off with spent matches and a little waft of smoke.
The Dregs
A huge thank you and shout to North Coast Drammer, aka Tony. He shared this dram with me in a blind tasting session. I was utterly blown away by it since the first sniff and sip. As a big fan of Ardmore anyway, this was an example of the distillery, an exceptional pour and experience at that time - nothing like I'd ever tasted before. I have since purchased a bottle and shared. This dram was a favourite in a blind lineup that was stacked against some heavy hitters (always difficult in selecting whiskies for a blind flight - I think it's difficult to weigh up the selections to each other without overpowering or underplaying what’s on display sometimes).
I think this retailed about £110 - 120 from SMWS upon release. I managed to pick it up for £45 at auction, but was stung by a £40 delivery charge coming from the E.U. Ah, guys, Northern Ireland is still fine for shipping costs. Well at least it was cheaper than original retail. Plus, I'd been hunting this bottle for quite a while, so there was no way I was letting this slip through my grasp.
I often think about this whisky regularly. There's something I've read recently where one in two men think about the Roman Empire everyday. Not me. It's this Ardmore. Something about that ex-Rum cask at this strength under 10 years old just made an absolutely wonderful whisky. While I already loved it, it's been made better by hearing the enjoyment of others when sipping. I'm acting as if I'm proud of something I crafted. But it takes away the relevant aspect of 'each opinion and preference matters' to knowing it's a winner to many. To me, it’s a worldie. As our scoring chart states, let's not dwell on why this isn't a 10 but celebrate a whisky truly worth seeking.
If there's a specific bottle that you'd talk about being your favourite whisky, what would it be?
Has that changed over the years? Are you surprised when thinking about it that you're able to remember and answer that question?
I'll save this bottle for as long as I can, and hope I can find another in the wild. Until then it'll be an utterly wonderful whisky experience that I won't forget in a hurry.
In the meantime I’ll keep looking for another 'favourite' that offers me an answer when asked the most difficult of whisky questions.
Score: 9/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
-
Dramface is free.
Its fierce independence and community-focused content is funded by that same community. We don’t do ads, sponsorships or paid-for content. If you like what we do you can support us by becoming a Dramface member for the price of a magazine.
However, if you’ve found a particular article valuable, you also have the option to make a direct donation to the writer, here: buy me a dram - you’d make their day. Thank you.
For more on Dramface and our funding read our about page here.
