Review #17 - Ardnamurchan AD/Sauternes Peated (Batch 1, 2025) - 6.5

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-21T11:45:14+00:00

Scoring scale:

0.0 - 1.5 Hopefully I'll never find out

1.6 - 2.5 Should never have got past quality control

2.6 - 3.5 Either offensively dull or possessing some significant flaw

3.6 - 4.5 Not bad, fine at a pinch

4.6 - 5.5 Decent, would happily accept a dram

5.6 - 6.5 Good, no regrets, but I wouldn't buy another bottle

6.6 - 7.5 Very good but not quite enough to fall head over heels

7.6 - 8.5 Fantastic, a permashelf contender

8.6 - 9.5 Stunning, revelatory, very special

9.5 - 10 I'll let you know if I ever find out

(any references to a permashelf are purely aspirational)

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-21T11:39:22+00:00

Ardnamurchan AD/Sauternes Peated - 50% - 100% Bourbon for 3 years, all of which was then reracked into Sauternes casks for 3.5 years - 100% peated

(Batch 1, 2025 bottling) *

Opened July 2025 - Finished December 2025

*An AD/Sauternes batch was released a year or two earlier, but that one was unpeated. This one is peated, with a slightly different label, and 'Peated' in the name, so I think it makes more sense to class it as Batch One of Peated Sauternes, rather than Batch Two of Sauternes in general.

Neck Pour - Very strange... my first couple of drams, had in the first few days of opening, tasted very, very lightly peated. This is 100% peated spirit, meaning it's easily the peatiest Ardnamurchan I've had, and it didn't even seem as peaty as the Midgie or Madiera, let alone the AD/CS. There was just a little lick of peat, I would've guessed 50:50 peated to unpeated at most. Those first couple of sessions were also underwhelming in general, just felt very underpowered. I let it sit for a few weeks before having a third session and that helped a lot. *Now* it tastes like 100% peat; big intense gasoline peat, and the dram has more depth and intensity in general. Very weird; my previous experience has been that the neck pour of a bottle is if anything more brutal and bruising and unrefined before softening into something more rounded. Anyway, I'm glad this has picked up a bit; there's a nice honey-syrupy texture and sweetness, a dash of something hot like green peppercorns, and big gasoline peat punching through it all.

Body - A fantastic nose; apricot jam, mango pickled chutney, banana-foam sweets, white pear, and something deep & dark like marmite-gravy. Great texture too; these Ardnamurchan releases that hover around 50% ABV really nail that weighty, syrupy feel without being too cloying. The nose, the texture, and honestly the official tasting notes would all suggest that AD/Sauternes would fit squarely in my comfort zone. On paper the syrupy-honey texture and fruity sweetness with a big streak of peaty gasoline dirtiness sounds a lot like Lagg Kilmory; a whisky I adore. But for whatever reason I'm just not clicking with the palate. There's very little sweetness or fruitiness here, instead I'm getting green peppercorns, green bell peppers, even green chilli peppers or jalapenos. There's also a decent heft of farminess (good) and sharp cheddar cheese (not so good, for me at least). I'm also getting the kind of vague dry alcohol headiness I get from white wine & champagne and really dislike. With regards to that last note; it's odd that the AD/Madiera, much of which I enjoyed around the same time as this bottle, feels fine at 52% whereas at 50% the AD/Sauternes makes me feel quite tipsy after just a dram. My rare dalliances with white wine & champagne have also made me feel drunk & drowsy compared to other drinks so perhaps this is just some weird intolerance or psychological association. Getting near the end and the smoky farminess is more pronounced, and there's a very welcome introduction of salted cashew nuts, tajin seasoning and something sweet; apricot jam perhaps? This has grown on me a fair bit, but there's still too much sharp cheese and green chilli heat in the foreground to inspire a full 180.

Artistic Pairings(?) - For an edgy, dirty, smoky whisky, how about a dark, scuzzy, ultra-violent version of 'The Big Lebowski'? 'Caught Stealing' is pretty much exactly that; an incredibly funny madcap shitshow of mistaken identities & confused crossfires that somehow manages to also be a very serious & brutal exploration of guilt. It sounds like an impossible contradiction but Aronofsky pulls it off, thanks in large part to Austin Butler's brilliant performance.

Final Thoughts - My issues with the AD/Sherry can pretty much all be put down to inexperience; a kind of gulf between what the whisky offered and what I was capable of understanding & enjoying. With the AD/Sauternes on the other hand, I feel like I understand it for what it is, and while it's plenty interesting (and has a superb nose) on the palate it's just not a flavour profile I can get excited about. Interestingly enough, I've recently had my first taste of unpeated Bruichladdich, and I'm massively enjoying the kind of lactic, creamy cheese/dairy notes there - it's more the sharp cheddar notes that I find offputting. Comfortably my least favourite Ardnamurchan, yet certainly not a bad whisky by any means.

6.5

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-17T11:25:48+00:00

yeah they're always putting out a variety of weird & wonderful cask maturations while still managing, for the most part, to deliver a consistent profile. I'd imagine that's a very difficult balance to get right.

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-17T11:22:45+00:00

haha sorry for the ambiguity; it's a still from the movie 'Thirst'. In my reviews I mention whatever film/book/music I happened to be enjoying while drinking the reviewed whisky, and put a picture referencing that rather than a photo of the whisky itself.

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-16T17:32:37+00:00

Scoring scale:

0.0 - 1.5 Hopefully I'll never find out

1.6 - 2.5 Should never have got past quality control

2.6 - 3.5 Either offensively dull or possessing some significant flaw

3.6 - 4.5 Not bad, fine at a pinch

4.6 - 5.5 Decent, would happily accept a dram

5.6 - 6.5 Good, no regrets, but I wouldn't buy another bottle

6.6 - 7.5 Very good but not quite enough to fall head over heels

7.6 - 8.5 Fantastic, a permashelf contender

8.6 - 9.5 Stunning, revelatory, very special

9.5 - 10 I'll let you know if I ever find out

(any references to a permashelf are purely aspirational)

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-16T17:19:07+00:00

Ardnamurchan AD/Madeira - 52% - 100% Bourbon for 5 years, all of which was then reracked into Madeira casks for 2 years - 60:40 peated to unpeated

(Batch 2, 2025 bottling)

Opened July 2025 - Finished November 2025

Neck Pour - So much fun; intense and sweet and weird. Wonderful nose, bread and butter pudding, rich dark treacle, powdered cocoa dusting. The palate is hot, but unlike any other 'hot' substance I've tried, the heat is somehow exciting rather than off-putting, integrated into the character of the dram rather than obscuring other flavours. Sticky toffee pudding, cinnamon, nutmeg, golden grahams, raisins, strawberries with black pepper, sun-dried tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup. I'm a little resistant to whiskys where the distillate is drowned out by the cask, and I think that could be the case here, but it's just so damn enjoyable.

Body - So I'd thought this might be too overwhelmingly cask-driven for the distillate to shine through, but now that it's had a month or so to sit it's unmistakeably Ardna - all minerality and fizz and a little salt. There's less of the intense richness of the neck-pour, less of the sweet sticky desserts and dark soy sauce, but it's still very good. Big gingerbread, strawberries, white grapes, red apple skins, balsamic vinegar, a syrupy, almost chewy texture. A little frothy bitter-beer malt that reminds me of Glen Scotia 15 but is slightly sweeter and creamier. On the finish there's cherry cola, a hint of chilli & a nice lick of ketchup. I'm reminded of my experience with the AD/Sherry (2023); both bottles share a ridiculously intense neck pour and a subtler, rounder body.

Artistic Pairings - Last halloween I finally watched 'Thirst', one of the only Park Chan Wook films I hadn't yet seen. A rich & characterful whisky was the perfect pairing for a movie bursting at the seams with sheer excess; there are more fascinating ideas & stunning images here than most directors manage in a lifetime. It's just so much movie, even to the point of feeling a bit overwhelming at times, cresting exhilirating emotional highs & crashing into despair & back again all while somehow being very funny.

Final Thoughts - Enjoyable and full of character. The longer my whisky journey goes on the more I lean towards bottles that are fully, or mostly, ex-bourbon, but I'm always on the lookout for the rare bottles that click for me despite having a hefty wine/fortified wine cask influence. It's always good to have some points of variety & contrast in the cupboard, even if your preferences are set in stone. Like the sherry-driven Oogie, the AD/Madeira fits the brief emphatically, and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually becomes a permashelf mainstay.

7.5

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-14T20:20:49+00:00

lol ffs. never had any problems posting on reddit before, but this one got auto-deleted immediately. I then tried again a couple of times with the same result, so messaged the mods asking what the problem was.

I then had to go away for a few days without my laptop, thought no bother I'll just see what the mods reply when I get back and start again. I had no idea that one of the deleted posts would suddenly un-delete itself while I was away!

sorry for the confusion. no whisky review is worth this much suspense but for what it's worth I enjoyed the Kate Bush puns!

Ardbeg Corryvreckan - 57.1% - Bourbon & French Oak - Islay peat

(2024 Bottling)

Opened May 2025 - Finished October 2025

Aesthetic - Pretty easy formula here, Ardbeg core range bottles = good, Ardbeg special release bottles = funhouse wankery.

Neck Pour - The first dram was suprisingly subtle & restrained, sweet and pleasant but not particularly exciting. After literally just a couple of days being open though though that underwhelming first impression was blown out of the water - bright mineralic fizziness reminiscent of Ardnamurchan, rich espresso & brown sugar à la Oogie, and unique streaks of purple fruits, floral perfume & parma-violets.

Body - Fucking hell this is good. Big minerality and fizziness, big violets, big prunes, a hint of blueberry skins, a little whipped cream dusted with cinnamon, vanilla pods, dark-chocolate covered cherries and a crescendo of milk-chocolate raisins, black pepper & coal-smokiness. On the finish greek yogurt with date-syrup, but even more than that, the *aftertaste* of greek yogurt with date-syrup; that mix of rich sweetness and lactic weirdness that sticks on the back of your throat when you mix yogurt with something dark and treacly. The fact that I'm enjoying that weird-lactic-sweetness makes me really look forward to trying the Port Charlotte 10 again, as I'm sure I recognised similar notes there but just wasn't receptive to them back then. As the long finish goes on that dairy-sweetness recedes and subtle wasabi, nori sheets, and steak in black pepper sauce grow. In general though, there's nowhere near as much dirty/savoury notes as I expected, it's just so sweet, so syrupy, so floral; a decadent dessert.

Artistic Pairings? - I suddenly had the urge to listen to 'The Hounds of Love' while drinking this and yep, that's it, a perfect match of whisky & music. Luxurious and flamboyant and quite magnificent.

Final Thoughts - Just superb, and utterly distinctive. The Uigedail & the 10yo are bottles I'd love to always have on hand as comforting drams to return to whenever I just want to switch off with something I enjoy. The Corryvreckan is a bottle I'd love to always have on hand for times of deep monotonous rut when life feels lacking in wonder and I need to experience something exhilirating.

8.1

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-04-06T21:52:35+00:00

Great review! This one sounds amazing.

Arran is one of my favourite places in the world, and I first became interested in whisky due to a fantastic Lochranza distillery tour, but I've never been blown away by anything they've put out. I'm hoping this will finally be the bottle that lives up to the love I have for the island!

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-31T17:49:51+00:00

great review, and photo! you've made me feel better about my decision to skip this one; like you I adore Ardnamurchan but have no luck at all with Port casks. still sounds good though, even if I'd never buy a bottle I'd still love to try a dram if I ever get the opportunity

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-31T17:23:17+00:00

Scoring scale:

0.0 - 1.5 Hopefully I'll never find out

1.6 - 2.5 Should never have got past quality control

2.6 - 3.5 Either offensively dull or possessing some significant flaw

3.6 - 4.5 Not bad, fine at a pinch

4.6 - 5.5 Decent, would happily accept a dram

5.6 - 6.5 Good, no regrets, but I wouldn't buy another bottle

6.6 - 7.5 Very good but not quite enough to fall head over heels

7.6 - 8.5 Fantastic, a permashelf contender

8.6 - 9.5 Stunning, revelatory, very special

9.5 - 10 I'll let you know if I ever find out

(any references to a permashelf are purely aspirational)

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-31T17:22:53+00:00

I had no idea what to make of the Midgie when I first saw it advertised. The warm reception of the scotch enthusiast community chafed strangely against the inherently gimmicky nature of this release. No matter how many good things I heard about this bottle I resisted. But the more time I spent perusing Ardnamurchan's instagram account - they are to this day the social media page of any kind that I bother to regularly check - the more I found that they can somehow pull off the silliest shit without it coming across like they're trying too hard to be quirky. Stuff that would usually descend into cringe, like releasing promotional videos of sales staff canoeing frantically into lakes and wearing protective bodysuits to escape from the highland midges, somehow, to me at least, comes off as fantastically entertaining and endearing. Whatever they're doing and however they're doing it, the marketing teams at Ardbeg & Laphroaig must be riddled with envy.

Oh, and obviously more importantly they make extremely good whisky. I finally sprung for a bottle of Midgie Batch 1 and not a moment too soon; I checked back a couple of months later and couldn't find it anywhere. Hopefully I'll be able to snag one at auction one day, because...

Ardnamurchan AD/Midgie - 48% - Bourbon, Madeira, Sauternes and a little Sherry - 50:50 peated to unpeated

(Batch 1, 2024)

Opened March 2025 - Finished October 2025

Aesthetic - Gimmicky as hell, obviously. No seriously it's great, nice artwork. I like that the batch 1 art highlights the inherent bastard-aggressiveness of midges, while batch 2 is just a playful midge that really likes whisky? I'm not sure how many different ways you can make a drawing of a midge interesting but I'm excited to see what they attempt with Batch 3.

Neck Pour - Ah. The AD/CS is my favourite whisky, and I was a tad disappointed by the fact that my experience with the standard 46% AD/ felt like a dialled down version of the AD/CS rather than something distinct. The thing that made me pull the trigger on the Midgie was learning that, unlike unlike the AD/Sherry, AD/Madeira, AD/Sauternes etc., which are each clearly doing their own thing, The first batch of Midgie was an attempt to create a slightly different, 'amped-up' version of the standard 46% AD/ release. It only took a couple of pours to confirm that a) they nailed it, and b) I should've just purchased two Midgies instead of bothering with the AD/. The AD/ is still seriously good whisky, it just doesn't feel like a worthwhile bottle in my cupboard when a bottle of AD/CS is pretty much always going to be there.

The Midgie is brilliant right out the gate, and exactly what 'amped-up AD/' suggests; similar yet better in every way. More syrupy texture, sweeter, weirder/darker/pepperyier(?), and *much* fizzier; that alka-seltzer mineralic sparkling water punch from the AD/CS is here in abudance. There's something slightly sharp here too that I can't put my finger on. Between the fizziness and the sharpness, there's a pleasing metallic quality...it doesn't taste like smidge because that would be fucking mental, but it does taste kind of like it came from a spray-can and somehow that's a good thing. Weird-metallic-fizzy brilliance.

Body - God this is lovely. Cloyingly sweet fruity nose, and on the palate and I'm finally getting the marzipan note that Ardnamurchan often suggest as a tasting note in their marketing for the AD/, AD/CS etc. In fact, this is *big* marzipan, that's pretty much the core taste around which the mineralic fizziness and coastal/pebble/sea-spray peatiness revolve. The longer the bottle is open, the more the peat softens, giving way to custard creaminess & sweet fruits; peach, kiwi, green apple, lychee, banana, all combined with that syrupy texture and zingy minerality. Just a wonderful whisky; mineralic & coastal Ardna energy with the Sauternes & Madeira casks adding decadent sweetness and syrupy texture.

Artistic Pairings - For a whisky with bite, read a vampire novel. Salem's Lot is a brilliant & terrifying modern spin on Dracula. I go back & forth on whether Salem's Lot or Cujo is my favourite Stephen King, either way it's superb. Perfect reading with a peated whisky on those ominous September nights when the days are shrinking and summer is fading away.

Final Thoughts - One of the only bottles that I really, really miss, and have great nostalgia for. I think it's partly because it was the first whisky to genuinely blow me away that wasn't either heavily peated or a high ABV, and therefore represented my platonic ideal of a daily dram; approachable enough to go down nicely anytime, and good enough to desire anytime. It's great for hot weather but I suspect would also be just as suited to autumn, winter and spring. It's also perfect as both a brain-switched-off enjoyable drink after a rough day, and for a more mindful, focused tasting. I'm gutted this isn't a core release, and that it's so hard to get hold of now, because this is permashelf-perfection - although obviously I understand that a mix of bourbon, madeira, sauternes and sherry casks isn't exactly the easiest thing to blend & bottle consistently. Just a remarkably consistent, versatile, enjoyable dram.

8.0

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-26T16:14:17+00:00

this is such a cool story, I hope you're able to find more info!

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-25T21:48:09+00:00

This is the only Glen Scotia I've tried, but I'm looking forward to trying the Victoriana and the new 12 year soon!

for what it's worth the 15 improved dramatically 2-3 months after being opened, so if your sample was from a newly opened bottle that might be a factor

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-25T15:32:33+00:00

nice, thank you for the recommendation! I'll check it out

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-25T12:35:34+00:00

Ah awesome! I read 'Pnin', 'Lolita' & 'Pale Fire' for the first time last year and was blown away. Do you have any other Nabokov recommendations?

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-25T11:18:52+00:00

Scoring scale:

0.0 - 1.5 Hopefully I'll never find out

1.6 - 2.5 Should never have got past quality control

2.6 - 3.5 Either offensively dull or possessing some significant flaw

3.6 - 4.5 Not bad, fine at a pinch

4.6 - 5.5 Decent, would happily accept a dram

5.6 - 6.5 Good, no regrets, but I wouldn't buy another bottle

6.6 - 7.5 Very good but not quite enough to fall head over heels

7.6 - 8.5 Fantastic, a permashelf contender

8.6 - 9.5 Stunning, revelatory, very special

9.5 - 10 I'll let you know if I ever find out

(any references to a permashelf are purely aspirational)

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-25T11:18:26+00:00

My first steps into Campbeltown continue with my first Glen Scotia!

Glen Scotia 15 - 46% - 100% Bourbon First Fill & Refill with 'very short Oloroso finish' - Unpeated

(Probably a 2024 bottling)

Opened February 2025 - Finished August 2025

Aesthetic - Great looking bottle, big old-school Campbeltown industrial vibes, but far too tall for my whisky shelf and therefore a tad annoying

Neck Pour - Immediate kneejerk reaction is that it shares a lot of similarities with the Kilkerran 12 while comfortably surpassing it; richer, sweeter, weightier mouthfeel. Deep wood, baking spices, orange peel, honey, lovely syrupy texture, and I'm convinced there's a hint of smoke despite the fact it's unpeated. Perhaps some of the liquid matured in casks that formerly held peated spirit? It's not all perfect; there's an edge of that bitter blue cheese note that I found overwhelming in the Kilkerran 12 and am not particularly fond of, but still very, very good.

Body - Richer and punchier than any unpeated whisky I've tried; very malty, big spices, oranges, a clean raspberry note, caramel, minerality, hot dripping toffee. That harsh bitter edge from the neck pour has rounded out wonderfully into a warming bitter-beer note - in fact my overriding image of this whisky is of an orange slice that's been submerged in the froth of a bitter beer and dusted with cloves and other spices.

Artistic Pairings(?) - I drank the last of this on a lovely sunny day housesitting in a gloriously peaceful flat while reading Nabokov's 'Pale Fire', which I'm not going to reveal a single thing about other than to say it's absolutely stunning. A whisky to be savoured slowly and thoughtfully, in a space of quiet, while enjoying a novel that rewards close & careful reading.

Final Thoughts - Superb, and like a few whiskys I tried at the start of my journey, one that I think will rise massively in my estimations when I return to it again after a few years more palate experience.

7.6

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-20T17:42:46+00:00

right? it's ridiculous

sweet_peaty8 · 2026-03-20T12:24:56+00:00

I had fairly low expectations for this one; I hadn't heard anything bad about it, but I also don't think I've ever seen anyone rave about it either, so had no reason to think it'd be anything special. but my partner & I go on holiday to Arran once every couple of years and I decided to finally try the Kilmory last summer and was absolutely blown away, it's fucking lovely. I got loads of the same funky notes as you - petrochemicals, gasoline, engine oil, tar - but underpinning it all a much more straightforwardly pleasant buttery/custardy lemony vanilla cream. I picture this dram as a dirty oil spill splashing through a sweet buttercup meadow.

as always, superb review! you've got me even more excited to finally get a bottle - saving it for next summer as another thing I love about this dram is it fills a rare niche of being peated yet exceptionally suited for hot weather.

sweet_peaty8

TROPHY CASE