Ardmore Ahoy I, The Coal-Fired Ones: Liquid Sun and Kintra 1992, Asta Morris 2000 Single Malts

I've got seven Ardmores to taste out and review, and normally I'd do all of that in one long-ass video. But I want a break somewhere in there and I want more views, dang it, so I'm going to break this up into two shorter videos and we'll see how it goes - this one on Friday morning, and then another one later tonight.

The subject of this experiment is Ardmore, more specifically a bunch of bottles I scored off of a friend who's moving. We love Ardmore here at Different Spirits (go see, e.g.,    • Signatory 100 Proof Highland Malts: Tullib...   ), it's the peated Highlander everyone liked 10+ years ago and has now completely forgotten in the era of Ardnamurchan and such. And it comes in a couple of different styles (already reviewed way back at    • Three IB Ardmores: Ultimate Ardlair 2011 1...   ): you've got unpeated Ardlair, which is its own kind of fun, and then you've got the Ardmores from before and after the switch from coal-heated stills to steamed ones. The next video will be several more recent examples, but this flight is all about the direct-fired stills of yesteryear. And here we go:

Ardmore 1992 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (bottled by Liquid Sun; aged in ex-bourbon, bottled 2011, 209 bottles; 49.1% ABV), 90+/100
Ardmore 1992 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Bourbon Hogshead No. 4907 (bottled by Kintra; distilled 6/23/92, bottled 4/11, 84 bottles; 49.8% ABV), 89/100
Ardmore 2000 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Bourbon Cask No. AM 042 (bottled by Asta Morris; bottled 2015, 181 bottles; 51.3% ABV), 87/100

No cap, the Liquid Sun is the best Ardmore I've ever had. It absolutely nails the vanilla fudge/peaty barnyard with stinky animals/yummy fruit profile, but with a tremendous level of detail and a finish that practically never ends. The Kintra isn't quite there but it's still very very good, and absolutely shows off Ardmore at its most floral. And meanwhile the Asta Morris can't quite keep up, but it's probably the peatiest and most peppery bottle in either flight and I still really really like it. An excellent showing from coal-age Ardmore, then.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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