A YOUNG BONFIRE IN THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS – Score: 6/10
Drive to the end of the single-track road on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the most westerly point of mainland Britain, and you will find one of Scotland’s younger distilleries. Built by independent bottler Adelphi and producing since 2014, Ardnamurchan runs largely on local renewable energy and makes both peated and unpeated spirit. The AD/ releases marry the two, offering a snapshot of a distillery still finding its adult voice.
And the voice, for now, is a fairly loud one. Smoke arrives first, a straightforward wood-fire smoke rather than anything medicinal or maritime, with an earthy peat note right behind it. Underneath, a solid core of cereals – porridge oats, malted barley, a little bread crust – reminds you that this spirit has not spent decades hiding behind its cask.
The palate stays on the same track: smoke and peat up front, grains in the middle, and a drying, slightly sawdusty wood influence that grows towards the finish. It is clean and well made, but the elements sit side by side rather than truly blending, and the finish fades without much complexity. A promising teenager with a firm handshake – worth following, but the best of Ardnamurchan is probably still sleeping in a warehouse somewhere on that windswept peninsula.
