Ardnahoe Bholsa is a young Islay malt that arrived with a strength and a swagger, and it tastes like a bonfire in a sherry cellar. This Ardnahoe Bholsa review is about a 50% malt that costs about £63, tastes of peat smoke, dried fruit and toffee with a trace of sea air, and is a rich, smoky and creamy dram.
I like it a great deal. It is a young whisky that tastes confident, and the strength gives it body and length that the standard-strength Islay bottles lack. The price is fair, and the competition is strong.
Ardnahoe is a new distillery on the north-east coast of Islay, near Port Askaig, built by the independent bottler Hunter Laing and open since 2018. The Ardnahoe distillery makes a peated spirit and has been releasing its own single malt in stages.
The Bholsa is bottled at 50% with no age statement, and the recent releases are described as sherry cask matured, so check the label on your bottle. The distillery’s own shop lists it at £60 with VAT, other UK shops at about £63 to £64, and I use about £63. Peat explained covers the smoke, and the Ardnahoe Inaugural Release is the first bottle from the distillery.
A smouldering log in a room that smells of sherry and dark chocolate, with a handful of raisins on the side.
The nose is smoky and rich, with peat, dried fruit and toffee, then a trace of sea air, a hint of orange and a faint earthy note. It smells warm, young and lively, with the sherry giving it a dark sweetness.
On the palate it is rich and smoky, with dark fruit, spice and cocoa, then a creamy middle, a hint of salt and a firm, drying oak. The 50% gives it real weight, and the texture is thick and oily. The smoke is big and the sweetness holds it in check.
The finish is long and warm, with smoke, oak and a lingering sweetness. It is dry, rich and very satisfying.
A few drops of water bring out the orange and soften the spice, and I think it is better for it. It also gets richer as it sits, and the dark fruit comes forward. At 50% it takes water well, and a patient pour pays off.
Neat, with a few drops of water, in a tulip glass. It is a very good sipper for somebody who likes smoke and sherry together, and I would not put it over ice. It makes a bold Old Fashioned, where the smoke and the sherry sweeten the bitters.
It goes well with smoked cheese, dark chocolate and a cold night. It is a very good gift for somebody who likes peated whisky and enjoys trying new distilleries.
At about £63 it scores 76. Ardnahoe Inaugural Release scores 74 at about £69, which is two points lower for £6 more. Port Charlotte 10 scores 75 at about £60, and Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà scores 76 at about £48. Ardbeg 10 scores 72 at about £45.
So the Bholsa is a very good smoky malt at a fair price. It beats the Inaugural Release by two points for £6 less, and it beats the Port Charlotte by a point for £3 more. The Toiteach A Dhà ties it for £15 less, and the Ardbeg 10 is four points lower for £18 less. I would buy it for the strength and the sherry.
Ardnahoe has been making whisky for only a few years, and its first releases were youthful and a little raw. The Bholsa shows the progress. The sherry casks have rounded the spirit, and the strength gives it weight, and the smoke is confident without being brash.
That is a good sign for the distillery. It means the spirit is well made and takes wood well, and it suggests the older releases will be worth watching. For a distillery this young, it is a very good bottle.
If you like the idea of tasting a new Islay distillery in its early days, this is the one to start with.
Four more bottles, from the better buys to the first release.
A soft, sherried, peated Islay malt that ties it for £15 less.
A big, creamy, heavily peated Islay malt that scores a point lower for £3 less.
The distillery’s first release, two points lower for £6 more.
A bold, complex Islay malt that scores four points lower for £18 less.
Ardnahoe Bholsa is smoky, sherried, creamy and strong, a young Islay malt with a lot of confidence. It is a very good bottle at a fair price, and the Bunnahabhain Toiteach A Dhà is the better buy.
Caskable score: 76 out of 100.
Peat smoke, dried fruit, toffee and a trace of sea air
Rich and smoky, with dark fruit, spice, cocoa and a creamy middle
Long and warm, with smoke, oak and a lingering sweetness
A rich, smoky, sherried young Islay malt at a strong strength and a fair price.
Thomas Grønvold is the founder of Caskable and a whisky enthusiast who believes the best way to learn about whisky is simply to drink it, compare it, and stay curious. From supermarket favourites to bottles from distilleries around the world, he writes about what he actually tastes and experiences, without pretending you need to be an expert to enjoy a good dram.
View profile →
