Over to one of my favourite SMWS numbers – and to a cask that I’m increasingly seeing paired with Ardmore – rum. Whilst I’ve tried a couple of mad as two short planks Caroni maturations, I’m hoping that this SMWS is perhaps a little more…..’normal’. Seeing as it isn’t from Caroni (that always get a special mention to up the asking price), this’ll be from Angostura. Gone are the days when the island boasted more than 50 distilleries.
Nose: Sweet, vegetal and quite field-led. I’ll unpack. Honied smoke cuts across smouldering heather, dried leaves and mustard seeds whilst a scattering of brown sugar joins musty earthiness, Frazzles and a demi-glace sauce. Reduction reveals touches of coastal minerality and medicinal wipes alongside hessian.
Taste: Sweet again. Unrefined sugars are scattered over flame bananas and a side plate of barbequed meats. Smoked apples join hay, whilst field flowers sit alongside vegetal smoke – burnt vegetation and smouldering leaf mulch. Water adds even more sweetness to the equation with baked apples and BBQ’s lemon slices served alongside overt ash and honey-drizzled roast potatoes.
Nope, not really wild, but certainly on the saccharine side. There’s still plenty of discernible Ardmore character here – all encased in a well-integrated, rum blanket that adds both a sense of summer BBQs and of the sweetness of processes molasses. Does what it says on the tin. 66 fans won’t be disappointed. 66 fans with a sweet tooth will likely rejoice.