Review #533 - Ardnamurchan Ardnamerica Tour Bottling (2024)
Ardnamurchan has a dizzying array of bottlings at this point: several different cask finish/maturation styles each year, cask strength bottlings, small batches for specific markets, and many single cask releases. The United States has gotten a couple of those small batch releases in 2023 and 2024, dubbed the 'Ardnamerica' Tour bottlings; today, we have the 2024 edition.
Just 3 casks went into this vatting: 2 of them contained peated spirit and were aged in ex-Madeira, while the third cask was Ardnamurchan's unpeated style; that cask was a Spanish oak Oloroso sherry butt. The cask strength was left at a hefty 57.3% ABV, and 900 total bottles were produced; there's no age statement, but based on the distillation vintages and the year of bottling, we know the whisky is roughly 5 to 7 years old.
Ardnamurchan Ardnamerica Tour Bottling (2024)
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Price: USD 95 (2025)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 57.3% ABV
Cask Makeup: Madeira and Oloroso sherry casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; distilled 2017 and 2018, bottled 2024; 900 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 90% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Farmy, almost a little stinky - olives and pickles, quite interesting. Those funky notes subside, leaving space for peat smoke and some wood notes; darker fruits of fig and well-aged red wine reside behind that. With more time, red grape appears.
Palate: A medium-thick mouthfeel; the peat smoke is relatively strong, and it's accented again by that farmy funk. Juicy red fruits build in strength, and there's a darker fruit like prune, too; charcoal and a starchy note are accent flavors in the background.
Finish: Cranberries and strawberries, coal smoke, a decent amount of peat; it's rich and oily, and a briny note arrives late. Lingers nicely, relatively long.
Final Note: Very interesting and tasty whisky - we've heard numerous times about the 'farmy' funk that Ardnamurchan can display, but in other bottlings, that trait seemed more mild. It's prominent here, and the savory funk is an interesting combination with the strong red fruit notes. Plenty of depth to this one - a good dram to dig into.
Value is relatively good, too - even these more limited Ardnamurchan bottlings are generally priced under $100, and with the cask strength presentation, there's plenty of flavor for your money.
Our Average Rating: 8.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.01
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
