Official 2025 Release | 52% ABV

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Madeira warmth and spice - this time at drinking strength*

Brick by Brick

Suddenly, there are brightly coloured constructions everywhere: jaggedy buildings, spaceships, vehicles and animals. Lego has become a thing in our house.

The way it has accumulated over recent months has me reflecting on some of the parallels between these impossibly complex sets of plastic and our beloved whisky. And it’s not just about how bloody expensive it all is.

As has been touched upon in recent articles here on Dramface, our over-reliance upon - or over-indulgence in - electronic screens continues to pose real challenges for all of us, and it’s only getting worse. But when you have a son with a particular strain of ADHD it’s a double whammy. Screen time is extremely difficult for us to police as parents and, when we get it wrong, it can cause a significant and negative mental shift in our son.

It’s not like we can completely ban them. Apart from being a disproportionate and draconian measure, it also starves him of accessing his school timetable, homework and contact with friends. As parents, everything we do these days seems to be through an electronic device and it’s no different for our kids.

So we need to get creative in finding strategies that work as genuinely tempting alternatives which don’t come across as lesser, almost punitive pursuits. This is much preferred to the occasional big stand-offs which end in dad ripping out the wifi router and hoofing it into the neighbours’ back garden.

Anyway, the distraction du jour seems to be pretty effective; sets of assorted plastic made of ‘studs and tubes’. Carefully following the immaculate step-by-step build instructions to transform bags upon bags of smithereens into familiar heft, shape and scale is a calming tonic.

It’s fulfilling too; it seems to instil a mindfulness that has enough appeal to distract from the relentless babble of the iPad. Or the Playstation. Or the Nintendo. Or the phone. Or the laptop. Or even the internet-enabled and fully-loaded ‘Smart’ TV.

So it’s Lego, and I’m actually pretty grateful for it even if the whisky budget has been stifled a little. (A lot).

One evening, after the last few pieces of Grogu had been affixed, we were winding down together and tidying up the last few ‘spare’ pieces they always give you, less they end up in your big toe. We marvelled at the fact there’s never a missing piece. If there is, you can be sure it’s you who’s lost it. Anyway, not quite ready for bed, we smashed all of these worlds together by watching Lego videos on YouTube. With a dram.

Do I need to point out it was only me having the dram? I’m a pretty poor parent but I’ve not slid that far yet. My son is still 13.

One of the videos we watched was a Business Insider piece that fascinated me. Not because of the Lego, especially, but because throughout the entire video it seemed like you could simply replace the word ‘Lego’ with ‘whisky’ for everything and, in that whisky context, everything would still make perfect sense.

Stay with me here. It’s kinda cool.

Apparently Lego has a super-interesting and - at times - controversial origin story, but there’s no need for that today. Instead, we need only skip back to the late 1990s where we find a company in trouble.

Nothing it was developing was really sticking hard enough to bring growth or success and they found themselves posting a loss in 1998 - the first in decades. In an effort to change things they developed new systems, strategies and ideas, of which none really worked.

By 2004, in the face of a new generation hard-wired into the games-console matrix, they were losing millions and at risk of disappearing. This was even before the advent of the online doubling-down of multiplayer modes or hyper-addictive mobile touchscreens.

That year, their CEO - who was also the grandson of the founder - stood down and appointed a ‘non-family’ CEO: Jorgen Vig Knudstorp. Probably the most Danish name ever. This guy fostered new ideas and completely new attitudes. So new, in fact, that the Lego board thought he was a nutcase.

But Jorgen discovered something the folks running Lego didn’t know; they had an engaged fanbase of Lego enthusiasts who were passionate and very active. Well that’s not, strictly speaking, true. They knew of them, it’s just that they found them to be ‘a source of irritation’.

Lego was for kids and all of their efforts were to develop products to sell to kids, with an age guide on the box maxing out at 9-16 years old. Adults building Lego was not a good look, at least in their eyes. They continued to focus on kids, but Jorgen had other ideas.

You see, these enthusiasts were also extremely creative and driven. Borne of a deep understanding of the potential from this complex brick-system, they were building amazing creations way beyond the scope of any original ‘sets’. Furthermore, in order to gather and coalesce, somewhat ironically, they made use of the very thing that at first threatened Lego; the internet.

In time they organised clubs, communities and conventions, galvanising their creativity and ideas. They were voracious and often had dedicated spaces at home - even entire rooms - allocated towards their passion. They would spend incredible amounts of cash on their ‘hobby’ in order to amass the pieces they needed to realise their dream builds. Beginning in the 1990s, this burgeoning movement eventually took on the acronym AFOL: Adult Fans of Lego.

Jorgen embraced this. He realised he could harvest this global Lego community for creative ideas, feedback, invention and even free marketing. He would attend Lego conventions and encourage grass-roots programs and events, culminating in the familiar Lego tagline seen online and in-store: “Adults Welcome”.

In a Harvard Business Review piece he states:

“The Lego community, like the basic interchangeable plastic brick, is one of the company’s core assets. I think I realized the power of customer contributions in 2005, when the company started involving a couple of enthusiastic fans in product development and I started systematically meeting with adult fans of Lego… these superusers can articulate the product strengths and weaknesses that young children may sense but can’t express.
Managing user contributors requires corporate transparency and a respect for customers’ ideas. We never take customers’ enthusiasm for granted. We reward them by showing that we listen to and care about their feedback.”

This wisdom changed the kind of products that were developed by the company and, unsurprisingly, created products that would be sought after by kids and adults alike. With all of this largely free and on-point advice they were able to bring to market exactly the kind of Lego sets that were instantly in high demand. No more stabbing in the dark or throwing out what the in-house developers felt might be the next ‘thing’.

They soon adopted a wider target market to include these groups, with 16yo-plus age guidance on the packaging, and were able to develop sets such as a 5,000-piece Millennium Falcon for $500; at the time the most expensive Lego set released.

It has since been followed up with 18yo-plus age guidance sets and higher still piece-counts - with even higher price tags.

Through their retirement program, sets are regularly discontinued and, as such, they have created a vibrant (and no doubt annoyingly lucrative) secondary market to bring even more interest into the releases from collectors and collector-builders. In typical post-millennial style, they have harnessed the power of the those in-the-know nerds to become ‘cool’ to everyone.

By opening up their ideologies to something a little more inclusive and transparent, Jorgen helped Lego grow from a $0.6bn concern in 2004 to $5.5bn in 2016 with healthy profits along the way. Today, it’s almost double that again.

This is an extremely shortened version of the story and I encourage all of you of a business bent - or a brick-building bent - to have a deeper dive into things; it’s pretty fascinating. But I also have to add; isn’t it also a little obvious?

The segue into whisky is clear: why don’t more of the larger whisky companies ask “Where do you think we are strong? Where are we weak? What would you like to see from us?”

Especially when these companies are run by dynamic and talented business types who perhaps came into their roles via their skills rather than their love of the product. Couldn’t they do with a little more whisky-market knowledge at their disposal?

I mean, when did you last see Diageo or Pernod Ricard hanging out at these grass-roots festivals? We could say the same about Edrington, Beam Suntory, White & Mackay and more. We may bump into them occasionally, or at the big-brand, capital city festivals, but that’s a wee bit different. I’m speaking about festivals that are mostly populated with folk who often know as much about the liquids being poured as those who pour it.

I need to give a shout out to Bacardi / Dewars who recently shared a lovely line up at Fife Whisky Festival. Craigellachie and Aultmore sat nicely alongside a fair spread of Abefeldy, including some really quite well-aged expressions. They were delicious. I did, however, overhear some folk saying similar things to what I was already thinking: are they fed up hearing how the 12 year old is boring at 40%?

I know, I know; we can’t conflate mass-market releases such as Aberfeldy’s 12 year old - or much of what’s released from the others listed above - with what I’m reviewing today. But there remain a ton of brands, bottles and releases that are very odd indeed, and seemingly bereft of any understanding of what they actually make, what they could make or what their peers make.

We are, after all, speaking specifically about malt whisky and I think these questions need to be asked until we actually hear an answer that demonstrates a little of that oh-so-difficult-to-manage transparency, from those who know.

Anyway, I say all that to say the thing you already know I’m going to say; Ardnamurchan is a bit like the new Lego. And no, not because it hurts less to step on it.

They seem to be at every grass-roots event and (like other similarly-minded, typically independent producers) everyone who pours for you will listen intently to what you have to say and genuinely care about your thoughts. Especially since they themselves are - to a face - whisky nerds. But also because - as whisky nerds - they are also tasked with being part of the whisky-making process.

Harnessing all of that face-in-glass experience? It just makes sense.

Review 1/2 - Wally

Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask, Batch 2, 2025 release, 19,598 bottles, 52% ABV
£65 and still available

The original Madeira Cask release appeared in 2022 and Drummond reviewed it here with me jumping in too, unable to keep my neb out.

I am surprised to see I didn't commit to scoring it an 8, opting for a safer 7. Re-reading the notes it seems I was very conscious of hyperbole around Ardnamurchan, as I remain today.

Before we dive into this; let me correct that: the 2022 Madeira became an 8/10 for me and I was lucky enough to score a second bottle. In the opinion of this whisky fancier, it was one of their best to date.

Could this be a tricky sequel?

Nose

Cold smoke and soot, tobacco leaf, ripe figs, fudge and nutmeg. There’s a salty and sweet citrus happening; clementines and orange rind. Dark honey seems to be the bass note, with a little wood spice, cedarwood and toffee apple adding the treble.

Palate

Softly spiced and gently smoky oak at arrival, this is peatier than I expected. I really don’t think the initial release was peaty or smoky? Running on memories now though. There’s minerality and some black pepper, orange cordial, some wood-inspired spices; cinnamon and nutmeg. A nuttiness too, or at least a little fruit-laden muesli. It finishes on a savoury and sweet smoke, with more spice; a little clove and some menthol.

The Dregs

This feels like a different animal. After searching the memory banks I head to the shelves and I’m equally thrilled and surprised to uncover a forgotten 2022 bottle still there and, while the level is very low, it’s still vibrant. It is also not smoky at all.

The new release very much is. Hardly a big peat bomb; it’s gently peaty with a slightly sweet spice and savoury edge. It makes for quite a different thing. Neither mention it, but I’m confident the 2022 release was cask strength, while this seems to have been reduced to its drinking strength of 52%, where it does the job nicely. However, predictably, I prefer the intensity brought about by the higher strength of the first batch.

I do seem to remember my first few glasses from the first batch were quite hot and I also remember a few others saying something similar. However, it quickly settled into one of my favourite ever Ardnamurchans and a big hit over the winter of that year of release. I wonder if they went a little more glass-ready with this Batch 2?

The outturn is certainly much bigger. Batch 1 was a mere 5,781 bottles, whereas this 2025 release calls upon the services of 38 unpeated bourbon/madeira American standard barrels along with 29 peated of the same, for an outturn of 19,598 - meaning a lot more of you will get your hands on this.

Adding water to my glass of Batch 2, bringing the ABV down further still, makes for a much more elegant experience, but it loses vibrancy. This whisky has taught me to be patient before and, sure enough, a parallel glass is drawn forward - the ‘prop’ pour I set out earlier in the day as I was taking pictures.

With only a plastic cover over it all day, it’s had time to settle and air a little. The differences are slight but everything feels softer, yet still intact. I prefer it hugely over the now over-watered glass. 52% is recommended, for now.

In terms of age it looks like everything was drawn from 2016 stock, so it’s a 6 year old. At retail it’s the same price as the previous release, but we should remember the ABV is lower. Still, fair play.

There’s a chance they were tuned into their fanbase when the first batch went out and, hearing that it needed time and a splash, planned a softer strength release this time around. Rather than comparing it, we should be celebrating it; as with all transparent batch releases, they’re different each time.

I place it on the shelf alongside the bright yellow of the Sauternes release, the green of the Rum Cask, the white of the AD/, the Paul Lanois and The Midgie, the dark blue of the Sherry Cask and the charcoal of the Cask Strength; together they look very pretty and colourful indeed. Not quite Lego-bright, but I’ve built a lovely wee display all the same.

Don’t just listen to me though - I’ve got Doog along for the ride below.

Everything’s better in company.

Score: 7/10 WMc

Review 2/2 - Dougie

Ardnamurchan Madeira Cask, Batch 2, 2025 release, 19,598 bottles, 52% ABV
£65 and still available

I was nervous for this year's Madeira release. Last time around, the maroon capped bottle was quite hot and, for me, not the best example of what Ardnamurchan are capable of.

Passing on the most recent Cask Strength and Sherry Cask releases on account of having unopened bottles of last year's in the garage, this Madeira release is the first bottle of Ardna I've bought this year.

I've got big hopes pinned on it; what with the addition of peated spirit to the mix and lower ABV, it could shape up to be a more complex, more approachable iteration.

All for the price of £65 - same as the first release over two years ago now.

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*Not a heat-bomb - a salty, sweet, gingerbread bottle of quaffable malt*

Nose

Gingerbread. Hint of rubber. Salty coastal. Peppery. Biscuit wafer. Cedarwood. Lemon zest. Making caramel for shortcake. Chocolate melting. Coffee - espresso.

Palate

Big ginger spice/ gingerbread. Savoury. Big red synthetic zing. Caramel sauce. Pepper. Rubber. Oranges. Souring. Blood oranges? Grapefruit - definitely. Bit of farm. Bit of earthiness. Liquorice.

The Dregs

It's all gingerbread and peppery caramel. I opened this on the evening of the AD/Venturer’s Zoomer alongside a Midgie and a single cask of 10yo full-mat Oloroso sherry, and the Madeira was found devoid of smoke - or indeed any indication of peat whatsoever. It was surprising, given that 40% of this is peated.

What was clear from the get-go, is how quaffable this is. A raging headache in the morning was perplexing until the bottle levels were assessed. The Madeira took the biggest hit, way past the shoulder!

Since then I've sampled the Madeira cold and alone, as well as part of a flight, finding that hidden smokiness that, for me at least, resolves as an earthy pepper rather than overt smoke. Lots more to find inside the bottle too, including rubber and liquorice.

I'm slowing down the intake in a bid to not rinse the entire thing, but I'm really impressed with how sweet and salty it is, and relieved that it's not another heat bomb. The gingerbread laced caramel character is superb, and for £65 a very good use of funds.

It's sticking around like other things in general; an indication of a lack of spending from punters. But that's good news, as I reckon soon I'll pick up another.

Very good indeed on the DCNSA.

Score: 7/10 DC

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. WMc

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