Follow up comment. Got the bottle, opened it and I am very much enjoying it. That is seriously good 5 year old whisky or any whisky for that matter. These new distilleries are re-writing the book in a way. The old way of doing whisky was to make stuff for blends and then shift some stuff to the geeks as a side show. Ardnahoe, Torabhaig, etc, are geeky enough to make great whisky for their audience. I've been ranting a lot recently about the prices of the old school. They simply don't deserve it. The new guys are killing it. Ardnahoe have an age statement (Bravo) and tell us on the bottle there is no colouring or chill-filtration. We all need to be far more selective with our purchases.
I think it'll be a hit with anyone who likes the punchy quality releases we've had from the likes of Ardnamurchan and Raasay. Ardnahoe appears to have a very bright future. Cheers Geoff 🥃
Awkward, me and @Gwhisky had minor handbags last week, then we kissed and made up, and here we are… I’ve stopped buying young spirit for the time being but this impressed me, love to you both
Really enjoyed the review Shane. Maybe an Islay 5 year old comparison of Ardnahoe Inaugural v Ardbeg Wee Beastie v Smoky Scot somewhere down the line??
I’m at Feis Ile right now and just got to try this, and I agree 100% with your notes and review. I think the bottle will get even better (smoother) after a few months of oxidation. I also got to taste some Ardnahoe new make, and it was shockingly fruity and sweet - amazing. And I also happened to taste this Ardnahoe alongside a Bowmore 12, by chance. The Bowmore is much sweeter and less complex, but still delicious to me. The profile might be somewhat similar, but Bowmore is a different whisky for a different audience. I’m guessing Bowmore decided they don’t need to appeal to the enthusiast crowd - it’s a shame, because it’s delicious.
Hope you're having a great time at Feis 🥃 I'm not at all surprised that their new make is fruity and sweet. I bet its delicious and I'd buy a bottle if I had the chance. You can really tell that they're doing everything properly from the start. That depth of flavour is going to be fantastic after 10yrs and even better after 20! Hopefully we can still afford whisky of that age in 2039 😅 Agree that Bowmore can be so, so good. I'm repeatedly blown away by their older, better presented expressions... and then don't buy a bottle because they overprice the hell out of it...
.and here it is. I love to watch review of whisky which is not unicorn, which i can buy even bit on pricy side and finaly enjoy at home compare mine and your thoughts. I got my bottle couple days but not opened it yet but want to know what is waiting for me. I must say i changed my mind and decide give it a go after very good reception at Drameface 8/10. Before i say: 5yo for £70, no it couldnt be much better than Wee Beastie at double price, could be? So im glad finaly changed my mind and got this. Can wait to open it and see whats the craic 😁. Cheers for your opinion Shane and as always in dept very interesting review. Slàinte 🥂🥂🥂🙋♂️
It's a very, very nice touch that we have an inaugural release with good availability. Pretty unusual these days! I do also think it's better than the Wee Beastie! It's a very well thought out and well made whisky. Hope you enjoy it too. Cheers 🥃
Tried this yesterday, not a massive fan of anything over 35-40 ppm but this was really well balanced and drinks more like a 7-8 year old rather than 5. This is promising stuff. Love you/your channel long time…..
Sounds like all good stuff, I just ordered a bottle. Would have been two but £70? We'll see. By the way, I just left an old fashioned WT mega-rant on John's channel you might enjoy.
Looks like you've been enjoying the company of your new Islay pal--lucky you! My understanding is that it won't be available in the States until autumn. AGH!
He is rather good company 🙂😅 the good news is that it looks like they produced many thousands of bottles of this so hopefully it stands a good chance of getting to you. Keeping my fingers crossed for you 🥃
Great review. I don't get on with bowmore. I've had the one (which was just poor) and I got a 15 recently at a very good price (couldn't turn it down) and just was too rich and sherried i couldn't get passed it. I'm not a sherried whisky fan but I quite enjoyed glenallachie CS. The distillery is beautiful, we got to visit the centre but obviously didn't have anything apart from blended malts, a few Hunter Laing releases and scarbus which I passed on to make way for my campbeltown blitz on the way home 😂
Bowmore fans must be the most neglected of enthusiasts. They get even less love from their distillery than Highland Park fans! Which is bizarre... Bowmore is the oldest distillery in the most prestigious whisky region. They go to the hassle of operating their own floor maltings. Yet they refuse to offer well presented whisky. I don't get it. If you try some of their older, cask strength stuff though it can be sublime. Far too expensive though. Frustrating!
So, the only other Islay core ranger with a 5-year age statement is Wee Beastie. From your notes, it seems they’d be very easy to tell apart. Also, I didn’t know about the worm tubs! I was going to wait on Ardnahoe for an 8-10 year bottling but now I’m curious.
With the logo. perhaps the water in the foreground is Ardnahoe loch (which is up behind the distillery from looking at the map), or even the worm tubs?
Thanks for the review Shane. Is the expectation that the inaugural release is their entrance into the market..... and that they might introduce a more reasonably priced core offering- maybe still 5 years but just not 'inaugural' ? £70 seems a little steep for a 5 year long term core range bottling. Im super excited for this (especially the Bowmore comparisons) but £70 feels just a tad high.
This one has me interested! We know what can be done with young malt when it's done with integrity (a la Ardnamurchan) I hope it comes to Canada at some point. Thanks Shane!
I didn't say it because it seems a bit click baity... but the phrase "Ardnamurchan of Islay" did come to mind. Very pleased about the commitment to quality from both. Cheers 🥃
Seeing many of these pop up, and the whisky sure sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and as you said, there is enough I migh just get some. Cheers!
Out of all of the recent new distilleries this one stands a good chance of reaching you 🤞 I can't remember the last time an inaugural release was still in stock three weeks later! And this is Islay too! Thanks for watching and cheers 🥃
Bowmore you say 🤔 Well I know a lot of people who don't like Bowmore but I do. I bought mine but haven't received it yet. All I hear are great things of this so I'm very curious to taste it. Thanks for the review Shane, cheers 🥃
Bowmore are one of those distilleries IMHO who can make incredible whisky... but self sabotage at every opportunity. Its bizarre that they have their own floor maltings and they're the oldest distillery in what is probably the most prestigious region and rarely even bottle at 46% 🤯
@@WhiskyLock Yeah I totally understand what you're saying but of course when I say I like Bowmore I mean some of the Feis releases and of course the Devil's Cask ones. Maybe the drop in sales will push them to be better. Let's see!
@@thewhiskyenthusiast I don't see that happening my friend. Beam/Suntory aren't on that wavelength at all. Let's face it, they've been perfectly happy to destroy the reputation of Bowmore. Bowmore and Ben Nevis were a good acquisition for them so they could sell it as Japanese whisky. Those Devil's Cask releases were a con too. They were completely coloured to pretend a sherry maturation and hugely overpriced.
@@welshtoro3256 ah man really!!! I didn't know about the massive colourings 😮It's been long since I had any but I remember trying them with high abv and so much sherry and falling in love with them. Maybe if I try them now I won't be as blown away.
Terrific review Shane! Exciting! I have a feeling it will be quite a wait but I really want to try this beauty - in Canada!! Will you buy a second bottle?!! Hope you are well!! :-)
Thanks Christine 🙂 all good over here thank you. Hopefully you'll see this one soon. Honestly, I try my hardest not to buy backups of anything these days because I'm always aiming to try something new that I can review. But the quality of this one is high enough to get me to consider it. Cheers 🥃
Greetings Shane, Devils advocate here🧐… “ No artificial coloring “ ?? Could this be interpreted as possibly having e150a added, as I believe it’s accepted as “natural “ ?? Does look a bit dark for a5 year. Not accusing or implying… Just curious your thoughts on the subject. Other distilleries choose to label as “ No coloring added “ which guarantees no e150a… Cheers 🥃
Scandalous!! I love it 😌 I'd be very surprised if anyone was silly enough to put anything that could be interpreted as colouring free on a label and then use e150a... the SWA do take a very dim view of anything that intentionally misleads or could stain the reputation (hoho) of Scotch. But can we be sure? I don't know! Great question and I'll do some digging. If that kind of dishonesty is afoot though then I don't think we can trust any such statement on a label. I can imagine ways to achieve "no colouring added" while still using e150a after all... ex-e150a cask finish anyone? 🤔 This is exactly the kind of shenanigans we need the SWA to prevent. As for this Ardnahoe. Having the whisky in front of me; I think it's possible that it's come out this colour if a high percentage of the vatting has spent 5yrs in first fill Oloroso... but yes, it's on the dark end of what you'd expect. Great question. Cheers John 🥃
I considered it for quite a while! But probably not. I simply have too many other things in the review queue at the moment but being Ardnamurchan I'm sure it'll be good. Cheers 🥃
Are you sure Jim is still with Ardnahoe? I thought I heard he left a few years ago unfortunately. I hope I'm wrong of course. I hope I can find this at some point here in Canada.
Honestly I'm not sure but I guess it would make sense for him to be on his way. They're up and running now and he was already retired when he agreed to help Ardnahoe. Hope you manage to find a bottle soon 🥃
