Ardnamurchan Heritage Barley Release 2025 is a West Highland single malt designed to spotlight the distillery’s character in a clean, transparent way: 100% unpeated Golden Promise (heritage barley) and maturation exclusively in ex-American bourbon barrels. The spirit was filled into cask from 2018 and bottled at a bold 59.2% ABV, delivering intensity, texture, and clarity.
The palate matches the strength with a chewable, oily mouthfeel. The marzipan theme continues with sugared almonds, then turns nuttier—salted cashews and subtle pistachio—wrapped in a gentle, creamy sweetness. Mid-palate brings rich orange polenta cake, baked cooking apples with fizzy lemonade, and an aromatic note reminiscent of peshwari naan filling.
The finish is oily, luscious, and well-balanced, medium in length, leaving traces of soft orchard fruit, a sweet nuttytone, and the last hint of espresso. As with the distillery’s releases generally, it’s non-chill filtered and natural colour, and it’s produced in batches, meaning availability can vary.
Serving tip: Try it neat first for full impact, then add a few drops of water to open up the fruit and emphasise the creamy malt character.
About the producer (brief)
Ardnamurchan Distillery was established in 2014 on the remote Ardnamurchan peninsula and is owned by Adelphi, long respected for its quality-focused bottlings. Sustainability is built into Ardnamurchan’s day-to-day operations: the stills are heated via steam generated by a woodchip biomass boiler supplied from local forestry, the nearby river supports a hydro-electric generator that feeds power to the local grid used in distillery operations, and a water-saving system significantly reduces cooling-water draw. The site also uses solar panels, bottles in lightweight glass made with over 50% recycled clear glass, and often ships without a presentation box to cut waste and transport weight. In 2024, Ardnamurchan was named Sustainable Distillery among the global winners at the Whisky Magazine Awards (Icons of Whisky).
