Released in 2014 to take the place of the Ardmore Traditional, the Legacy brings a lightly-peated, wood spice-led flavour profile to the table. At its core, the Ardmore Legacy is made with 80% peated and 20% unpeated malt.
It leans more on the savoury than the sweet side of things, with light barbecue char and earthy notes up-front. Sweet cinnamon, fresh honey and vanilla toffee waft up at points.
More charred, smoky notes, joined by drying oak, pear drops and subtle grassy touches. Give it a minute for citrus zest and expressive heather to appear.
A lasting peat smoke finish, with a little bit of honey'd barley for good measure.
More presence than most Highlands. Peatie. Good.
The flavours are lacking in depth with a salty after-taste to accompany the mild peatiness. Not totally unpleasant, but lacking the quality you'd expect from a bottle of this price when comparing to other bottles available.
This scotch is not meant for hobbyist scotch drinkers, and I wouldn't order it for my own pleasure. However, it's a bottle I'll keep on the shelf to ease beginners into scotch who are used to easy drinking cocktails, beers & wine. It contains hints of notes generally from Highland & Speyside with little peatiness, which will help one figure out what kind of scotch he/she prefers (as opposed to trying multiple scotches). Added note: it's a decent pairing for easy maduro/natural cigars with more creamy/cocoa notes.
A blind taste may make you think of the West Coast. This is definitely peatier than expected and my inexperienced palate noted similarities to Laphroig and Tallisker with the smoothness of a lowland. What not to like? Could drink this all night. Buy. It. Now.
Really sad to say it mates at Ardmore... but this whisky has disappointed me from the very beginning (i.e. nosing). It is almost as if it was not matured sufficiently (or more than three years for that matter), taken as soon as legally allowed from the casks, poured into the bottles and sold to the "thirsty" consumer who was for so long waiting for it with his coca cola and melting ice cubes...
