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Day 20 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 22, 2025

by Evan

Ahh, Ardmore – the Scottish Distillery that may or may not be responsible for making Canadian Club Whisky (spoiler: It isn’t – but don’t tell the marketing arm of Suntory Global).

  • Yes, that is Ardmore's still house that shows on the Canadian Club Whisky's official website.
  • The "Since 1858" is also kind of funny and misleading, as Ardmore Distillery was not founded until 1898.

It seems like only yesterday I went on a rant regarding companies not releasing interesting bottlings from their own distilleries, and how many of us rely on independent bottlers to put out bottlings that excite us. Perhaps I should have saved that rant for today?

Beam Suntory seems to treat Ardmore as the red-headed stepchild in its Scotch Whisky portfolio. When it comes to profile and releases, Bowmore and Laphroaig get plenty of attention, being the Islay darlings that they are. Auchentoshan in the Lowlands gets a similarly prolific treatment. Even Glen Garioch gets more single malt releases and attention, and that is saying something!

Every giant spirits company is guilty of this. Far, far more Blended Scotch than Single Malt Scotch worldwide. They have their distilleries that they shine a spotlight on, and then they have their production workhorses that are crucial for their blends and do not need marketing and releases to showcase what they do. 

Ardmore Distillery was founded in 1898, and since the beginning, its focus has been on peated whisky production. The Highland distillery was purpose-built to provide whisky for blending, as pretty much all distilleries were at the time. However, with Ardmore that hasn't changed much - even today just about all of Ardmore's production is still being used for blending, trading stock, or selling. Ardmore features prominently in the Teacher’s Highland Cream blended Scotch Whisky, as it has since its inception.

Only a small portion of the distillery’s Single Malt Scotch lands in official bottles released by Ardmore and its parent company Beam Suntory, and the only official bottle that makes its way to Alberta is the Ardmore Legacy, which we featured in a few years back in the 2020 edition of the KWM Whisky Calendar. The 40% ABV, no age statement Ardmore Legacy is, to put it politely, a bland, boring and terrible representation of what this distillery is capable of.

A note on the last paragraph: I am not above plagiarism – IF I am plagiarizing myself. I originally wrote that for our 2023 Whisky Calendar. I keep hoping that Suntory will find a reason to improve the quality of and increase the proliferation of official Ardmore bottlings. Sadly, the Ardmore Legacy has been pretty much the only official Ardmore in Alberta for what – a decade now? Maybe more?

Regardless, we don’t look typically look to the big companies to provide interesting bottles of whisky. Doing that would be like trying to breathe in a vacuum sometimes. Indie bottles are where the fun is. So let's take a look at this 25 year old Ardmore from Elixir Distillers Single Malts of Scotland range.

Single Malts of Scotland Ardmore 25 Year Cask 750792 – 51.1%

It has been a couple of years since we've seen any new single casks from Single Malts of Scotland. This 1998 vintage Ardmore was bottled after 25 years in a Hogshead at 51.1%. Exclusive to KWM!

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Yup, this is an Ardmore. Plenty of breakfast-y grain up front, with intermingled peat smoke and hay bales. Notes of oatmeal with brown sugar and a dash of milk, waffles fresh off the iron, fatty bacon fresh off the skillet, and even a dash of orange juice from concentrate. Some apple crumble in there, too.

Palate: soft and creamy on entry with a touch of building spices. Notes of peaches and cream, fluffy pancakes slathered in butter and soused with syrup, fruit flan, and maple smoked bacon lingering in the background.

Finish: Soft, juicy and enticing, with plenty of lingering fruit and spice notes and the consistent but light smokiness.

Comment: A great old Ardmore that is lively and remarkable balanced. A very well put together quarter-century old dram that is still full of life.

Cheers,

Evan

evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Independent Bottler, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

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