An Ardnahoe Distillery Exclusive
Almost every distillery open to the public does some kind of exclusive bottling these days. Whisky-loving tourists have come to expect it. When you’re a young distillery, without any whisky of your own to sell, you have to be a bit more creative if you want to offer your visitors something unique.
Building work began on Ardnahoe in 2017. By October the following year, Islay’s ninth distillery was up and running and producing spirit. The first cask was filled the following month, in November. Three years later, in 2021, the distillery celebrated its spirit reaching that all-important milestone: it could now be called whisky. It seems the owners are in no rush to release – not until they’re certain the spirit is ready. Fortunately, they have a few other options when it comes to offering guests a souvenir bottling.
Ardnahoe is owned by Hunter Laing, the Glasgow-based blender and independent bottler. Founded by Stewart Laing and sons Andrew and Scott, Hunter Laing has access to an impressive array of casks, built up over many years in the whisky business.
Stewart started his career working with his Father, Frederick Laing. Working in the family business he oversaw the 1998 launch of the Old Malt Cask label. This was a series of single cask bottlings that featured whiskies from all over Scotland. When Stewart left the business to form a new company with his sons, he took the brand along with him.
Hunter Laing seek out casks from cooperages in Scotland and the US, as well as bodegas in Spain. The casks are shipped to Scotland and sent to various distilleries to be filled with new make spirit. This is a privilege only the most well-established of bottlers hold and it allows the company a lot of control over their maturing stocks.
Once filled, casks mature in the Hunter Laing warehouses for as long as necessary. Progress is monitored by Master Blender, Tom Aitken. Many casks go into the company’s blended Scotch brands like House of Peers but those that stand out from the crowd are set aside, to be bottled as single casks under labels like Old Malt Cask.
Such a selection to choose from is a great advantage for a new distillery. When I visited Ardnahoe in April they not only had a large selection of Hunter Laing bottles on the shelves but also two distillery exclusives, available as special handfill bottlings. I decided to go with their Jura offering, partly because it isn’t a spirit I see in wine casks very often but also because Ardnahoe perches on the rocks above the sound of Islay and it’s impossible not to notice the paps of Jura, looming like a trio of menacing giants on the opposite shore.
The Whisky
Smell: Fragrant, floral and summery. It conjures images of Barley gently swaying in the breeze. Of bees buzzing from one flower to another. Sunny fruit orchards… That’s the sort of imagery I get when I stick my nose in this glass. There’s malty cereals. Almond. Coconut. Some gentle baking spices. Apple. White grapes. Pineapple juice. Vanilla ice cream.
Taste: Honeyed malt. Biscotti. Apple and pear. Peach. Pineapple. Orange. Caramel and toffee. Towards the back there’s a big burst of black pepper heat which develops into a liquorice note. Water tones down the heat and brings out more of the orchard fruits character.
Thoughts: Jura often presents itself as a very delicate single malt but this version seems to carry a little weight on the palate. The cask strength bottling also ensures it has a bit of a punch where flavour intensity is concerned. Sometimes I found the peppery heat a bit overpowering but at 56.8% it could take a good splash of water without drowning and once the sweet spot was found, it became a pleasant wee sipper for a fresh summer’s day.
Value for money: Handfill distillery exclusive bottlings usually come in at rather hefty prices but credit to Ardnahoe & Hunter Laing because £65 is reasonable for a cask strength 11-year-old malt. There aren’t many Jura bottlings that get me excited but I’m quite pleased with this one.
For more information on Ardnahoe visit https://ardnahoedistillery.com/
For more information on Hunter Laing visit https://hunterlaing.com/
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