I’m a proud Edinburgh boy. Cut me, and I bleed overpriced housing and little dog statues with shiny noses. And for every proud Edinburgh boy, the month of August means only one thing: festival month.

I’ve been going to the Edinburgh festival every year since I was about 11, and in that time, I have seen some monumental garbage: the tumbleweed-making comedians, the interpretive dance troupes, and the undeservedly confident Oxbridge acting companies with their latest ‘completely improvised reimagining of The Tempest set during the Falklands war’.

Yet every year I come back, and will gladly, gleefully, sift through the dross. Why? The answer is obvious: in in the hopes of finding that one gem, that one ray of sunshine, that one platinum needle in the haystack, so that for years after, I can proudly exclaim that I saw them before everyone else. That I appreciated their craft long before they became a household name.

In unrelated news, last month this reviewer finally ticked off the biggest item on his bucket list and visited the sacred Isle of Islay. Upon these holy shores, I found myself in the surprising a position of feeling once again that warm and fuzzy glow of finding that lesser-known nugget of total quality.

Nestled snuggly between the sanctified temples of Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila (reviews to come), the weary rambler will find road signs guiding them to what was, for me, a previously unheard-of entity – the Ardnahoe distillery. A quick enquiry later, and I find myself on a tasting experience of Islay’s most exciting new project.

Ardnahoe, for those as ignorant as I was, is the latest brainchild of one of the big names in Scottish whisky, the Laing family. Their dream of building Islay’s ninth distillery has made steady progress since they broke ground in 2016 and began distillation two years later. If things keep going to plan, the first bottles from this exciting venture will hit the shelves in April next year, but The Water of Life is completely indebted to the distillery for allowing us a little peek behind the curtain.

The good folks at Ardnahoe let us sample five of their latest delicacies. In addition to their new make spirit, drams were poured of four different finishes using bourbon, ruby port, oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks. All of which are first fills and have been distilled in fat stills which offer plenty of copper contact. At four years’ maturation, there’s still a good chance that any tasting notes will change before the end product hits the shelves, so take anything I have to say with a pinch of salt (not really. I find that salt often totally ruins the taste of whisky).

We were lucky enough to be sent home with a snifter of the Bourbon cask to review and are delighted to pass on our thoughts.

Ardnahoe Bourbon Cask

ABV – Well, the bottle I had just had ‘Bourbon’ hand-written on it, so, erm, not sure.

Price – Remains to be seen…

Nose – A great combination of sweet and smoke. About two-thirds the former and one-third the latter. Strong notes of peanut brittle and wet moss, with just a hint of marmalade.

Palate – Plenty of warm spice, mostly clove and cinnamon (I’m resisting the temptation to resort to the cliché of saying Christmas cake but, you know, it’s like Christmas cake). There are also some juicy white grapes in there, and a lovely spray of sea salt. A reminder again that this is the sneak-preview tasting; there’s still a bit of distillate, but you know that’s going to get smoothed off with another year in the barrel. What it will be like in another 10 or so, one can only dream!

Finish – The big one is an espresso taste, but there’s also some tart stone fruits in there – notably peaches and nectarines.

I’m not going to give this one a mark out of ten; it wouldn’t be fair to judge an unfinished product in that way. However, I will say that this is a bottle I am really excited to try once it’s ready. The four-year preview was a well-balanced, well-rounded bouquet of flavours. It’s distinctly Islay, but certainly offers something different in terms of both sweetness and freshness of flavours.

I will also absolutely lavish praise on the team and the experience at the Ardnahoe distillery. My party and I went from hearing about the distillery for the first time to sampling some drams within 24 hours, and we are so glad we did. The warm welcome, the charming hospitality, the obviously expert company, and the beautiful surroundings should make Ardnahoe a must-visit for anyone making the sacred pilgrimage. To be able to brag that you were there before it truly took off is just another added bonus.

This is a distillery and company that will proudly testify to the value they place on tradition, and in producing quality over quantity. April, and the first official bottles from the Ardnahoe distillery cannot come soon enough!