Ardnamurchan’s cheeky tribute to Scotland’s most notorious insect, “The Midgie” 2025 Release, brings together spirit that is at once gentle and bracing, much like the Highland midge’s bite! Crafted so that every sip recalls a brisk Atlantic breeze, this bottling blends 75% unpeated spirit with a 25% peated core, then matures it in 50% ex-American bourbon barrels, 48% port barriques, and 2% Sherry casks to achieve its complexity. Whether you’re a seasoned highland malt lover or a curious newcomer, “The Midgie” balances lush fruit and gentle smoke with a touch of maritime salinity, making it a whisky that flutters delightfully between sweet and savoury.
Ardnamurchan’s single-malt journey begins with local malted barley, mashed in a bespoke tun heated by renewable-energy-fuelled biomass. The 2025 “Midgie” embraces maturation on the Atlantic edge: half the casks are ex-American bourbon, nearly half are seasoned port barriques, and a small 2% yields Sherry cask influence. Each expression sleeps in dunnage warehouses beside the sea, drawing in that signature salt-kissed air over its ageing year.
This release marks the first time Ardnamurchan has blended such an exact ratio of ex-bourbon, port, and Sherry-casked spirit to achieve a harmonious dance of honeyed fruit, maritime salinity, and gentle peat. The decision to keep the spirit 75% unpeated rather than fully smoky allows “The Midgie” to capture Ardnamurchan’s dual personality: soft, buoyant fruit tempered by just enough peat smoke to remind you of the foreshore. At 48% ABV, it’s bottled uncoloured and unchill-filtered, so you taste every nuance that the peninsula’s pure air and local barley impart.
Pairing Suggestions:Seared scallops with seaweed beurre blanc, oak-smoked salmon canapés, white-pepper pork belly sliders, honey-glazed duck breast.
Tasting Note:On the nose, gammon ham meets torched pineapple alongside prunes dipped in salt, soft almond oil, and coconut. The palate palate gives salt-baked pear, meadowsweet, lemon thyme, cherrywood embers, cocoa powder, and a gentle puff of buoyant smoke.
Origin:Highland, Scotland
Alcohol:48.0%