Review #: 264
Description: Stone Circle 2008 Ardmore
Spirit: Scotch
Background: This is an Independent bottling of a 2008 Ardmore that was aged in an ex-bourbon cask for 10 years before being bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd for Inverurie Whisky Shop. On paper, this sounds a lot like the /r/Scotch Ardmore selection which I highly enjoyed, so let’s see if it stands up to it.
Reviews 259 – 264 were done as part of the Dramfool Spirit of Speyside tasting. This took place on Zoom, headed by Dramfool co-founder, Colin Fraser. There were about 15 active participants on the Zoom call giving notes and impressions while we tasted and the contents were revealed after some tasting and discussion. Notes are therefore a little brief.
Distillery – Ardmore
Bottler – Berry Bros & Rudd
Brand – Stone Circle
Selection – Inverurie Whisky Shop
ABV – 56.5%
Age – 10 Years
Nose – Ooo I think I get a little bit of peat and vegetal-ness, lemongrass, fresh cut grass. Little bit of iodine and some cigarette tobacco. Ethanol is sharp but kept in line.
Taste – Cream and honey, lemon custard, vanilla frosting, sourdough
Finish – Toasted sourdough, a little bit of seaweed and vegetal, campfire smoke. Black pepper and smoke linger
Score: 7
Would I buy a bottle? Yes
Thoughts: Well this appears to be a similar cask to the r/Scotch Ardmore and pulls a lot of similarities. Lots of lemon and sourdough and the peat is well intertwined. There was a bit more of the seaweed note that pulls it back a little, but it’s still an excellent whiskey. If you missed out on the Reddit pick, get this one and you’ll come close to it.