- Nose
- It's very gentle, more like a caress than an oomph. The smoke is not overly powerful, but what is that is quite heavy. Not a light smokiness, but a gentle one at that too. It's very highland like with hints of heather, oak, hay and grass. A hint of honey adds itself to the nose. It's gentle and fresh with just a hint of soot and bandages, but mostly sweet fruits like nectarines, tinned pineapple and lemon. It has a lovely creamy quality with notes of banana custard and honey. Finally a touch of walnuts as well as some faint minerals.
- Palate
- The palate is, as expected, as gentle as the nose. A combination of old age and an almost Lowlands like style. Gentle oak, tamed peat represent the age, while hay, heather and a note of dried wildflowers bring a bit of a Lowlands style. Added to that are hints of apple and pear skins, old lime and just a touch of black pepper. It is oily, now showing more charcoal and soft, earthy smoke, as well as a little chalk. Then lime, sweet yellow apples and peaches again, with a light tropical note. Hints of toffee. Mint tea, cardamom, tiny herbal drops and subtle ash. It's still very much an Ardmore on the palate, but more soothing than the ones tried so far, which have been 20-years-old at the most. Gentle earthy peat smoke with a hint of thyme and touches of pineapple juice as well as cinnamon sprinkled apple parts. Just a pinch of black pepper and menthol as well.
- Finish
- The finish continues in a similar vein. There's a touch of vanilla that wasn't there before, and the pepper lingers here too. It is reasonably long, with a little black pepper and lingering sweetness. A medicinal side in the aftertaste. Somewhat herbal and surely more menthol and mint, with just a touch of wood smoke.
