West Highland distillery Adelphi has reported a huge demand for its very first batch of mature spirit as pre-orders vastly outstrip its initial production run.
The independent bottler and distiller, which opened in 2014, said it had decided to release just under 2,500 bottles of its Ardnamurchan Spirit 2016 AD due to high interest.
But it has already received orders for three times that amount, despite the spirit being too young to be called whisky – a spirit must be distilled in Scotland and matured for at least three years before it can claim the title.
Alex Bruce, Managing Director of Adelphi and the Ardnamurchan Distillery, (above) said, “Prior to a launch we contact our UK and international agents and distributors to gauge interest and take pre-orders.
“While it’s not unusual for there to be a healthy amount of interest in our whisky, the demand for our new Ardnamurchan Spirit was exceptionally high. We’ve produced 2,500 bottles but we could have easily sold three times that amount. Pre-orders were 7,500 at the last count.”
Ardnamurchan Spirit 2016 AD has been vatted from selected casks that had been maturing in Ardnamurchan since production started. These were then left to “marry” for three months in large sherry butts.
Adelphi has worked with Edinburgh-based agency Nevis Design to create a bespoke slate grey bottle to resemble the volcanic past of the Ardnamurchan peninsula.
The Ardnamurchan release follows the recent launch of The Kincardine whisky, which was created in partnership with Fusion Whisky Ltd and is a blend of Scotch and Indian single malt whisky, another innovation from the Fife-based firm.