Thirty-two bottles, thirty-two chess pieces. Two kings, two queens, four bishops, four knights, four rooks and sixteen pawns, each one a whisky from a different distillery. This one stands on g7, and behind the piece sits a seventeen year old Ardmore at full cask strength.
The Expert's Description
Ardmore 17 Years Old The Chess Malt Collection G7 is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured entirely in bourbon wood and bottled at 59.7% cask strength. It was distilled in February 2002 and bottled in June 2019, and the cask gave 239 bottles.
The Chess Malt Collection is a series of 32 bottlings from different distilleries across Scotland, where each bottle corresponds to a piece on the chessboard, split evenly between black and white. The series gathers distilleries you rarely see side by side, tied together by a concept rather than by a region or a cask type.
Ardmore is one of the few Highland distilleries with peat smoke as a core style, and after seventeen years in bourbon wood the smoke has grown softer and better integrated. The whisky is neither chill filtered nor coloured.
Tasting Notes
Nose
Tropical fruit first, mango, pineapple and a little melon, which is typical of long maturation in bourbon casks. Beneath sit toasted nuts, vanilla and a light dry smoke closer to cold ash than a fire.
Palate
Full and oily. Tropical fruit and honey open, then nuts, vanilla and a dry smoky edge. The 59.7% is pronounced, but after seventeen years there is roundness enough to carry it. Water draws the fruit further forward.
Finish
Long and dry. Smoke, toasted nuts and oak, with a final sweetness of tropical fruit that lingers.
Specifications
Name: Ardmore 17 Years Old The Chess Malt Collection G7 Single Highland Malt Whisky 59.7%
Distillery: Ardmore
Bottler: The Chess Malt Collection
Region/Country: Highland, Scotland
Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 17 years
ABV: 59.7%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Bourbon cask
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Distilled: February 2002
Bottled: June 2019
Number of bottles: 239
Edition: The Chess Malt Collection G7
Flavour Profile
Smoky · Tropical Fruit · Nutty · Vanilla · Cask Strength · Oaky
Investment Potential
Medium. The series is built to be collected, and a concept of 32 pieces creates demand for the individual bottles long after release. With only 239 bottles from this cask, an age of seventeen years and full cask strength, there are several reasons this one will be hard to find again.
Did You Know?
The series consists of 32 different whiskies, one for each piece on a chessboard: two kings, two queens, four bishops, four knights, four rooks and sixteen pawns, split evenly between black and white. The designation G7 refers to the square on the board, and on a chessboard a pawn stands on g7 at the start of the game.
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