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Ardnahoe Infinite Loch

  • Writer: Joe
    Joe
  • 4 days ago
  • 4 min read

When my wife and I visited the Scottish island of Islay, before kids, there were eight distilleries there. Most of these are quite old: Ardbeg (founded 1815), Bowmore (1779), Bruichladdich (1881), Bunnahabhain (1881), Caol Ila (1846), Lagavulin (1816) and Laphroaig (1815). Back then the new kids were tiny farm distillery Kilchoman (founded 2005), makers of 100% Islay, a particular favorite of ours. The whisk(e)y boom, though now evidently receding, brought a brand new entrant in 2018. It's called Ardnahoe and they've now been around long enough to start showing up on shelves.


(Port Ellen, dating back to 1825 but closed and operating solely to do malting since the 80s, also reopened just last year. Which is exciting! But we won't see their new whisky for years and that's a story for another day.)


Ardnahoe is located on the northern edge of Islay's east coast, close to the island of Jura. It's between Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila, just to the north of Port Askaig, one of the island's ferry stations. As is typical on Islay, the distillery is very close to the ocean. It's freshwater source is the nearby Ardnahoe Loch, from which the distillery gets its name.


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It was built and is operated by Hunter Laing & Co, a Scotch independent bottler. I had to do some figuring here as I was familiar with a company called Douglas Laing & Co and assumed they were connected. Douglas Laing, also an independent bottler, dates back to 1948 and has a bunch of brands, including a few blends I was familiar with like Big Peat and Scallywag. Hunter Laing was founded in 2013, after two of the Laing brothers split the older company's assets. One stayed and now runs Douglas. The other founded a new company, Hunter, with his sons. The founders of Ardnahoe are therefore a new company, though one with long ties in the industry. And it's somewhat surprising they built a distillery.


A quick explainer of independent bottlers may be in order. Independent bottlers generally do not own any distilleries, they buy spirit from distillers and can do different things with it. They may age it themselves and sell it as a single malt, under their own branding mind you, likely with the name of the distillery on the bottle. Or they might mix spirits from different distilleries together and sell blends. They key here is they don't usually have their own distilleries. But here Hunter Laing is attempting something different and I have to give props. They also, looking at their webpage showing their range, have several bottles I recognize from the shelves at Total Wine, part of 'Spirits Direct.' So I learned one of their Scotch sources, and it shouldn't be surprising that that's where I found the Ardnahoe.


Considering the newness of the distillery, we expect a limited number of offerings. I believe there's only been two thus far here in the U.S. One, the Ardnahoe 5 Year Inaugural Release was the first bottling made by the distillery. It's a one-time release single malt, at 50% ABV (high for Scotch) and matured in a mix of ex-Bourbon and ex-sherry casks. I did not see one at TW but did see a price tag and must've just missed it. The other is the Infinite Loch, the bottle I did secure. Also named for the loch that provides water it has nearly the same stats, but's supposedly a permanent, always available expression. It appears the Ardnahoe shop does have a few other bottles, but they won't/can't be shipped or sold here.


From the Ardnahoe Our Process page
From the Ardnahoe Our Process page

As for the Ardnahoe process, it looks fairly similar to how most single malt Scotch is produced. Fresh water source nearby. Malt, dry (in this case over a peat fire) and mill barley. They have a 100 year old mill, which is cool. Cook the grist with heated water and take the resulting liquid, the wort. Add yeast and ferment. Distill twice through bulbous copper pot stills. Cool into liquid, for this they use a now unusual, less-efficient traditional method called worm tubs. Barrel and wait, a small portion on-site, for years. Finally bottle.


Here's the breakdown of the Infinite Loch:

ABV - 50% (100 proof)

Mash - 100% malted barley (40 ppm peat)

Maturation - Ex-Bourbon (American white oak) and ex-sherry (European oak) casks

Age - NAS (must be at least 3 years for Scotch)

Location - Ardnahoe, Islay, Scotland (Islay region)

Price - $60


Had to hurry up and write this before it's gone
Had to hurry up and write this before it's gone

Tasting Notes:

Nose - Peat smoke, citrus, can you smell the sea?

Color - Light, yellowish, looks young

Taste - If this makes sense a clean bonfire, seaweed maybe, citrus, pepper

Finish - Spicy, smoky, just right length


Final Thoughts:

This is good, and an impressive debut for a new distillery competing with titans of the industry. My initial thought, back when we cracked this, was that this was a successful Laphroaig clone. That's high praise btw.


Hey, let's compare them, we have a 10 year open. Laphroaig is darker in color and richer in smell/flavor (sweeter too). The Ardnahoe feels light, even if it's at a higher ABV (Laphroaig 10y is 43%). However, the new younger cousin may be more 'pure' peat and is still easy to drink, regardless of its clearly younger age. A competitor then, not a clone.


At this stage the Laphroaig isn't getting replaced as a go-to for this style of peaty Scotch. Especially because this Ardnahoe is actually a little more expensive. But color me intrigued by the new distillery and what may come next.

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