Obscurities & Curiosities – Ardnamurchan 2019 – 7 Year Old – 1st Fill Sherry – ~55% ABV

OBSCURITIES & CURIOSITIES ARDNAMURCHAN 7 YEAR OLD, PEATED 1ST FILL SHERRY BUTT
A USA EXCLUSIVE FROM ONE OF SCOTLAND’S MOST TALKED-ABOUT YOUNG DISTILLERIES

Region
Highland
Distillery
Ardnamurchan
Age
7 years
ABV
59.5%
Cask
Peated 1st Fill Sherry Butt

Outturn: 60 bottles
Exclusive USA only

A 7-year-old peated Ardnamurchan from a 1st fill sherry butt. Independently bottled by North Star for the Obscurities & Curiosities range, selected by The Whiskey Lab for US release. 60 bottles.

Ardnamurchan opened its doors in 2014. In the decade since, it has quietly become one of the most watched young distilleries in Scotland, run on 100% renewable energy from the hydro-electric stream that cuts through the property on the remote western edge of the Highlands. Distillery-direct releases of peated Ardnamurchan tend to disappear quickly. Independent bottlings from a 1st fill sherry butt are rare. This is one of those bottlings, and it does not leave Scotland except by our hand.

Distilled 2019. Bottled April 2026. Single sherry butt. Cask strength at 59.5%. Non-chill filtered. Natural colour. 60 bottles. Available only in the United States through The Whiskey Lab.

Distillery profile, Ardnamurchan
Founded in 2014 by independent bottler Adelphi on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the westernmost point of the British mainland.
Powered entirely by local renewable energy, including hydro from the distillery’s own stream and biomass from nearby forestry. The stillhouse cooling water returns to the river unchanged.

Produces both peated and unpeated spirit in alternating runs. The peated distillate is phenolic at 30-35 ppm, closer to Islay levels than typical Highland peating.

Young Ardnamurchan has built its reputation on spirit quality rather than age. At 7 years in an active 1st fill sherry butt, the distillate holds its own against the wood while showing the maritime character of its west-coast home.

Cask profile, Peated 1st Fill Sherry Butt
A sherry butt is a 500-liter cask, one of the largest formats used in Scotch maturation. The slower interaction between spirit and wood produces a more gradual, integrated sherry influence than you get from a smaller hogshead or octave.

1st fill means this was the butt’s first use after releasing from a sherry bodega. The wood is saturated with sherry character and transfers deeply into the spirit. Paired with peated distillate, the sherry adds a layer that the peat has to work through rather than over.

The result is what peated sherry does at its best: smoke threaded through dried fruit, oak and char meeting raisin and leather. Not a sherry bomb. Not a peat bomb. A conversation between the two.

Tasting notes
Nose
Maritime smoke right off the bat. Not overwhelming, more like sitting down next to a warm fire that clears the chill from your body. The sherry is there too, candied dark fruit laced through the bonfire smoke.
Palate
A lot going on here. Bonfire smoke, but not really peat even with this being peated. It’s that classic light smokiness a peated Highland distillate carries, sweet by contrast to the heavy acidic, burnt-rubber peat of Islay. Flat out pleasant and enjoyable. The sherry likely drives the sweetness, but it reads like a smoked Old Fashioned cocktail. The 59.5% ABV does not show up as alcohol. It shows up as intensity of flavor.
Finish
All the flavors are still here at the two-minute mark, tapering down slowly from the one-minute point. Clears at close to three minutes, but a perkiness persists on the tip of the tongue and lips long after. Sweet, smoky, fantastic.

Specification Details
Brand Obscurities & Curiosities (North Star Spirits)
Whisky style Single malt Scotch whisky (peated)
Region Highland
Distillery Ardnamurchan (peated)
Age 7 years
ABV 59.5%
Volume 700 ml
Cask 1st Fill Sherry Butt
Distillation year 2019
Bottling date April 2026
Outturn 60 bottles
Market USA exclusive, selected by The Whiskey Lab
Cask strength Yes
Non-chill filtered Yes
Natural colour Yes