The story starts on 11 December 2013 in Kennethmont: Ardmore’s still house—once coal-fired, always a little wild—ran a batch of its heather-laced, heavily peated spirit and rolled the fill into a fresh PX sherry barrel. Ten patient years later, on 15 February 2024, the cask was cracked open and a whisky thick with barbecue-charred oak, burnt-end sweetness and stewed-fruit richness spilled out. First nosing is like lifting the lid on a smoker after a long night: rich oak char, BBQ ends and sweet heather bonfire drift upward. Take a sip and heavy sherry syrup, baked plums and camp-fire smoke wrap the tongue before fading into a finish of embers, over-ripe fruit skins and dark syrup.
Ardmore itself has always walked its own path. Founded in 1898 to keep Teacher’s Highland Cream generously smoky, the distillery still draws soft water off Knockandy Hill and runs eight onion-shaped stills that accentuate a muscular, earthy peat uncommon in the Highlands. That backbone lets the PX barrel shout without drowning the spirit: think sticky toffee, cigar ash and a last spoonful of Christmas trifle carried on a drift of Highland peat.
Claxton’s Exploration Series bottles every cask at an even 50 %, keeps the colour natural and the texture un-chill-filtered, then hides a gilt token beneath each capsule—collect five and the Yorkshire bottler unlocks an invitation-only release. Release #10 adds this Ardmore to the treasure hunt, and its sweet-smoke swagger makes the coin worth chasing. Pour a measure, give it a minute for the peat and PX to settle their differences, and enjoy a dram that feels like roasting marshmallows over a sherry-soaked log fire.
