{"product_id":"ardmore-27-year-old-1998-smws-single-bourbon-american-oak-oloroso-vatting-66-268-well-be-dramming-world-cup-2026-special-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2026-70cl","title":"Ardmore 27 Year Old 1998 SMWS Single Bourbon \u0026 American Oak Oloroso Vatting 66.268 We'll Be Dramming! World Cup 2026 Special Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2026) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eArdmore 27 Year Old 1998 SMWS Single Bourbon \u0026amp; American Oak Oloroso Vatting 66.268 We'll Be Dramming! World Cup 2026 Special Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2026) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 320  bottles produced from ex-Bourbon \u0026amp; ex-Oloroso American Oak Hogsheads vatted into one single cask.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis rich, smoky whisky has acquired depth and complexity through long maturation in American white oak (both bourbon and oloroso sherry casks) and is the perfect pour to toast the team's achievement. The nose opened with a warm glow of tobacco and marzipan soaked in brandy. Confit tangerine, honey and barley sugars were followed by dried apricots and a soft swirl of lemon danish. The fruit character grew steadily as we sucked orange lozenges, while a shimmer of blowtorched mango added brightness. The palate carried a savoury thread of smoked cheese and chutney, with depth coming from black pepper and charcoal crackers. Water revealed polished mahogany as a musky warmth met beeswax and cedar wood, coal dust and liquorice root. Thyme resting on hot coals was then sprinkled on to barbecued burnt ends along with a slow grind of curry spices. Lemon sorbet and hickory smoke, seeded crispbread, cherry cough sweets and a cooling mentholic finish brought the experience to a close. The starting point for this small batch was two ex-bourbon hogsheads of single malt Scotch whisky. One cask was transferred at 25 years old to a first fill American oak oloroso hogshead while the other remained in bourbon. The casks were then married together before bottling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003eAbout Ardmore\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA large Victorian distillery, Ardmore has a heft and scale which is surprising given its gentle rural surroundings. It is also a rarity in terms of style – a peated Highland malt. For years it was the last distillery to fly this particular flag. It was also the second-last distillery to retain coal fires under its stills.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe peatiness (it comes across as woodsmoke) is balanced by a gentle apple\/floral lift, the product of a regime which insists on clear wort and very long fermentation in wooden washbacks. The fires which once raged under the stills added a heavy, mid-palate weight, as did the downward facing lyne arms. When the fires came out, the distillery team spent seven months creating new steam coils with kinks in them to replicate the ‘hot spots’ in the stills which had contributed this flavour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the steam has come in, an unpeated variant [called Ardlair after a nearby stone circle] has also been made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt was in 1898 that Adam Teacher, son of Glasgow blender William Teacher, decided that the family firm needed its own malt whisky distillery. The site he chose, on the outskirts of the village of Kennethmont in rural Aberdeenshire, was on land owned by family friend Col. Leith-Hay [whose seat Leith Hall is open to the public]. It had water, there was a source of peat nearby, and the immediate surroundings grew barley. As significantly, given the vision Teacher had for the site, the railway between Inverness and Aberdeen ran alongside. By putting in a small branch line he could get casks and cow in, and whisky out.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eArdmore has remained in the Teacher’s stable ever since, providing smoke and also top notes to a blend which still sells over a million cases globally (its main markets today are India and Brazil). The original pair of stills were doubled in 1955 and then doubled again in 1974. Two years later, it became part of the Allied Distillers stable – the same year as the distillery’s Saladin maltings stopped. Its stills remained coal-fed until 2001.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen Allied was dismembered in 2006, Teacher’s, Ardmore and Laphroaig went to Beam and in 2014 it became part of the new Beam Suntory portfolio.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts importance for its blend has meant that Ardmore has never had a presence as single malt. A quarter cask-finished bottling appeared a couple of years after Laphroaig Quarter Cask, but remained a small-scale release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has however built up a small but dedicated following among single malt aficionados who seek out the independent bottlings which appear – those from Gordon \u0026amp; MacPhail and Signatory Vintage appear the most frequently. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e49% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ardmore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54476521603410,"sku":"ARD27SMWS66.268","price":325.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/Ardmore27YearOld1998SMWSSingleBourbon_AmericanOakOlorosoVatting66.268We_llBeDramming_WorldCup2026SpecialHighlandSingleMaltScotchWhisky_2026_70cl.jpg?v=1788201734","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/ardmore-27-year-old-1998-smws-single-bourbon-american-oak-oloroso-vatting-66-268-well-be-dramming-world-cup-2026-special-highland-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2026-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}