Ardnamurchan AD/The Midgie

48%, Non Chill Filtered, Natural colour Nose: Fresh lemon and citrus rind, cinnamon, boiled ginger sweets and a faint sweet and resinous smoke – reminiscent of spruce or pine wood. Palate: Creamy texture with a chocolaty and biscuit note – similar to chocolate digestive biscuits, salty and charred halloumi cheese with a lingering faint sweet smoke on the finish. I’ve quite enjoyed every Ardnamurchan I’ve had to date, this one being a variation of the standard AD offering by mixing madeira and sauternes barriques into the already excellent bourbon and sherry mix. This is an annual UK experimental release bottled in conjunction with the UK midgie repellent brand Smidge. I was lucky enough to be able to import this into my market in North America via a UK retailer. Comparing this to the standard Ardnamuchan AD which is easy to do since they are very similar, I would say that the added wine barriques add more of a biscuty sweetness to the standard offering while toning down the smoke. I do miss the peanut saltiness of the AD, which is very much up to personal preference. I would score these the same and it would depend if this or the AD is better depending on your preferences, I lean more to the savory side and I would side with the AD, but not by much both are excellent for the money.

Ardnamurchan makes delicious whisky and this one is no exception. Boght this on special for 30 Pounds plus shipping to the states, so total to me was around $60. This is a blend of mostly 8-ish year old bourbon barrels with one 7-year old sherry cask, and 5 each of 6-year old Madeira and Sauternes casks. It appears to have been a UK only release that was a collaboration with an insect-repellant company called Smidge. Thankfully though, I don't think any of the repellant made it into the bottle. The dominant notes for me are orange marmalade, salted caramel, rich milk chocolate, ginger, and maybe a slightly milder peat than you'd typically find in a Talisker. It seems a little sweeter than their regular releases, and the slightly higher ABV is nice. The fruity toffee smoke combo is delicious. I recommend any Ardnamurchan, but this might be my favorite so far of the ones I've tried.

Nose has smoke, wood, apple, toasted bread. Palate vanilla, apple, smoke, wood.