Ardmore Distillery, located in the rural village of Kennethmont in Aberdeenshire, is a large Victorian facility that stands out for its impressive size and scale, particularly given its peaceful surroundings. It is one of the few peated Highland malts and, for many years, was the last distillery in this region to produce a peated whisky. The peatiness in Ardmore’s whisky presents itself as a woodsmoke flavor, which is uniquely balanced by a subtle apple and floral lift. This lift results from a production process that emphasizes clear wort and extended fermentation in traditional wooden washbacks.
Ardmore was also one of the last distilleries to use coal fires under its stills, a process that contributed to the whisky’s distinctive, heavy mid-palate weight, along with the downward-facing lyne arms that helped develop its unique flavor. When coal fires were phased out in 2001, the distillery’s team spent seven months creating new steam coils with kinks to replicate the “hot spots” in the stills that had contributed to the character of the whisky.
In addition to its traditional peated variant, Ardmore now also produces an unpeated whisky called Ardlair, named after a nearby stone circle. This expression was introduced after the transition to steam heating.
The distillery was established in 1898 by Adam Teacher, the son of the famous Glasgow blender William Teacher. Teacher chose the site due to its proximity to water, a nearby peat source, and the availability of barley in the surrounding area. Furthermore, the railway running between Inverness and Aberdeen allowed the distillery to easily transport casks in and whisky out. The Teacher family has owned Ardmore since its inception, and the distillery has always played a significant role in the production of Teacher’s blended whisky, which is sold globally, especially in markets like India and Brazil.
Over the years, Ardmore has undergone significant changes. In 1955, its original pair of stills was doubled in size, and again in 1974. In 1976, it became part of Allied Distillers, which also led to the closure of its Saladin maltings. The distillery’s stills remained coal-fed until 2001. When Allied Distillers was restructured in 2006, Ardmore, along with Teacher’s and Laphroaig, became part of Beam and eventually joined the Beam Suntory portfolio in 2014.
Although Ardmore has historically been important for its contribution to blends, it has not had a strong presence as a single malt. However, a quarter cask-finished bottling was released a few years after Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask expression, though it remained a limited release. The distillery has gained a following among whisky enthusiasts, especially for its independent bottlings, with frequent releases from Gordon & MacPhail and Signatory Vintage.
