Ardnamurchan sits at the end of one of the most inaccessible peninsulas in Scotland - no main road, boat access generally recommended - and runs entirely on hydroelectric and wood-pellet energy. The distillery’s 2025 Mezcal Cask Release takes their peated spirit (30 PPM, distilled 2017) through six years in ex-bourbon casks, then 18 months in Oaxacan mezcal barrels. Only 4,968 bottles were made.
The collision is genuinely strange: Highland bonfire smoke meets roasted agave, with lime zest and aloe vera threading between them. Whether it reads as Scottish or Mexican depends on which note arrives first. What’s notable is that neither tradition dominates - the two smoke idioms coexist without compromise, each amplifying the other rather than cancelling it out. No age-statement inflation, no cosmetic finish tacked on for marketing effect. Just a real decision about what these two casks do to each other.
At $84, one of the more intellectually satisfying bottles available at any price point.
$84 - stillspirit.com