ARDMORE
| Distillery Opened | Capacity | Malting Floor | Washback Type | Number of Washbacks | Number of Wash Stills | Nuomber of Spirit Stills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898 | 5.55 million litres | Dismissed in 1976 | Douglas Fir | 14 | 4 | 4 |
The Ardmore distillery was founded in 1898 by Adam Teacher and, located near the Kennethmont village, the Ardmore distillery is in the highest point of the Northern railway.
The water uses by Ardmore distillery comes from the water sources, which are in the Knockandy hill.
The Ardmore distillery used his malt until 1976 but now they buy it from other factory. The malt is lightly peated and that gives to Ardmore distillery’s malt different respect of usual Speyside whisky.
Some of the warehouses used in Ardmore distillery were previous malting floors which were reconstructed to become warehouses.
Ardmore distillery’s brand is a golden eagle which plane as a protector and protagonist over the Ardmore distillery.
Generally the Ardmore’s whisky is made in ex-Bourbon casks and to finish it passed in Quater casks.
Since 2011 the value of Scotch blend exports has fallen, while the corresponding figure for malts shows an increase. While blends may still form the backbone of the industry, the single malt business makes a lot of money.
Ardmore distillery has been the signature malt in Teacher's since the late 1800s,
but lately the Ardmore single malt range has been largely expanded and
sales have since, more than tripled.
- 1898 Adam Teacher started the construction of Ardmore distillery which eventually became William teacher & Sons’ first distillery. Adam died before it is completed.
- 1955 Stills are increased from two to four
- 1974 Another four stills were added, increasing the total to eight.
- 1976 Allied Breweries takes over William Teacher & Sons and thereby also Ardmore. The own malting was terminated.
- 1999 A 12 year old was released to commemorate the distillery’s 100th anniversary. A 21 year old was launched in a limited edition.
- 2002 Ardmore distillery was one of the last distillers to abandon direct healing (by coal) of the stills in favor of indirect heating through steam.
- 2005 Jim Beam Brands became new owner when it takes over some 20 spirits and wine brands from Allied Domecq.
- 2007 Ardmore Traditional Cask was launched
- 2008 A 25 and 30 year old were launched
- 2014 Beam and Suntory merge. Legacy was released.
- 2015 Traditional was re-launched as Tradition and a Triple Wood and 12 Year old port finish were released.
The Ardmore distillery is equipped with a large cast iron, semilauter mash tun with a copper dome, 14 Douglas fir washbacks and four pairs of stills.
The stills have an intermediate piece round, which doesn’t contain any reflux bowls.
From 2000 to 2001 the stills of Ardmore distillery were warmed up with coal instead hot steam.
The Ardmore range consist of:
- Legacy
- Tradition
- Triple Wood
- 12 yo port finish
image source: official Ardmore web-site
