Okay, fellas, let’s address the elephant in the room right away: This 11-year-old Ardmore from new German indie bottler PURE.WHISKY is an absolute banger of a dram! Ah, no. While this statement is totally true, that’s not the proverbial elephant. The elephant is the price. At 139 Euro a bottle, this top-class whisky certainly ain’t no steal. And I can understand everybody who says “Well, that’s a bit too much for me”. Personally, however, I am happy that I forked out the requested amount and traded it in for a new release that’s super well thought-out and especially beautiful – both on the outside and on the inside.

As for the presentation, PURE.WHISKY’s founder Ines Zager has put a ton of effort into it, making every last detail stand out. The shape and the surface feel of the bottle are amazing, the all-natural stopper looks fantastic, and the handprinted label on recycled lux seed paper is a real work of art. Plus, every item – be it the glass, the cork, the paper, or even the ink, the glue, and the capsule – is 100 per cent eco-friendly and recyclable! Oh, and the spirit inside? That’s among the best I’ve had in quite a while! We’re talking about an Ardmore 11 Years Old here that spent its entire maturation time in an Oloroso quarter cask formerly used by Laphroaig.

The whisky coming out of it mingles the smokish and greenish character of Ardmore (one of my most beloved distilleries in Scotland) with the briny and medical peatiness of Laphroaig (another one of my all-time favorites) – all cuddled up underneath a blanket of fingerlicking good sherry sweetness! While strong and intense, the aromas and flavors are in such beautiful harmony with each other that you could easily have sold me this bottling as 15 years of age (or even older). So yeah, at first glimpse the asked-for price in the PURE.WHISKY online shop might feel rather high; but if you take the concept, the handiwork, and the quality of this outstanding release into consideration, too, I find that you’re absolutely getting your money’s worth. In fact, there’s a good chance this won’t be the last bottle I’ve bought of PURE.WHISKY’s highly impressive debut release!

by Tobi

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Eye: Dark brown with red highlights.
Nose: One sniff in and I’m in love. Madly in love! This magnificent Ardmore’s bouquet is dense, heavy, and filled only with the most alluring of scents: sweet bramble jam, crunchy brittle, candied hazelnut, brown sugar, and a super-complex mix of different phenols, vapors, and fumes.
Palate: When the liquid hits the tongue, the awesomeness continues! At this stage of the tasting, the bottling’s key elements come together in a marvelous way: The Oloroso sherry, which first occupied the cask, provides an alluring sweetness. The Islay whisky from Laphroaig, which second slept in the cask, adds a dose of medical peat smoke. And the Highland malt from Ardmore, which third and last laid in the cask, gives the whole thing a woody, mossy, and heathery touch. But that’s not all: Wild strawberries, pine cones, cough candy, and forest honey are part of the mix as well, making the offered tapestry of tastes even more complex and appealing.
Finish: Emphasizing more on the smoke than the sweetness, the whisky’s rewarding aftertaste is stimulating, multi-faceted, and also somewhat drying. Its most striking qualities include caramel pudding, sponge fingers, orange peel, peppermint, peatsmoke, and allsorts of nuts, pastilles, and (sugared) berries – all staying very, very long.

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Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Region: Scotland
Age: 11 years
Alc. volume: 56.7 per cent
Cask type: ex-Oloroso quarter cask
Bottle size: 0.7 litres
Price: ~139 Euro
More info: https://pure-whisky.com/ (Bottler)

*** I bought the bottle as a regular customer. ***