MARZIPAN BY THE PEAT FIRE – Score: 7/10
Ardlair is not a distillery you will find on any map. It is the name given to spirit from Ardmore, the Aberdeenshire distillery in Kennethmont that has quietly been producing smoky Highland malt since 1898, long before peat became fashionable. This single cask was selected by the German independent bottler The Cask Hound: distilled on 13 October 2010, matured in a refill bourbon cask, then finished for twelve months in a first-fill bourbon barrel before being bottled on 26 October 2022 at a natural cask strength of 54.2% ABV. Cask #800814 yielded just 268 half-litre bottles.
The nose opens with a gentle, earthy peat – inland smoke rather than seaweed – that soon makes room for something unexpectedly sweet: marzipan, soft and almondy, followed by candied fruit straight from a Christmas cake. A twist of citrus peel keeps the whole thing bright.
On the palate the cask strength wakes everything up. Peat and marzipan dance together, the candied fruit thickens the middle, and a lively black-pepper kick arrives towards the finish, warming but never aggressive. The citrus returns at the end to tidy up. Not a revolution, but a well-chosen cask and a very pleasant reminder that Ardmore, under whatever name it travels, knows its way around a peat fire.
