Ardnamurchan The Midgie 2025 Edition Review

This playfully named whisky is a tribute to Scotland’s notorious midges. I must admit that I was first drawn to this whisky because of its name. I spent some time hiking in Scotland last year, so had plenty of first-hand encounters with midges!

I found the whisky itself very enjoyable – so much so that I’d gladly buy another bottle if I could find one. Sadly I suspect I’ll have to wait for their next batch of The Midgie to be released.

Ardnamurchan is a new discovery for me. It’s a fairly new distillery, established in 2014 by Adelphi, an independent bottling company that still owns the distillery. It is located about 16 miles from the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, and this is regarded as one of the most remote distillery locations in Scotland.

The Ardnamurchan lighthouse was built in 1849 from granite taken from the Isle of Mull (which is just a little to the south), and I believe it’s a tourist destination in its own right. The lighthouse was designed by Alan Stevenson (the uncle of the author Robert Louis Stevenson). The Stevenson family actually designed most of Scotland’s lighthouses over a period of 150 years (while hiking and encountering plenty of midges, I visited the one they designed at Cape Wrath).

One particularly interesting detail about The Midgie (and apparently all the other bottlings from Ardnamurchan) is the QR code on the back label. Scanning it gives access to detailed, bottle-specific information, including barley variety, mash temperatures, fermentation times, hydrometer readings, and precise cask breakdowns. What stood out to me was seeing all the vintages (2017, 2018, and 2019) which went into this bottle. This level of transparency is unusual, since Scotch Whisky Association regulations traditionally allow producers to disclose only the age of the youngest whisky. Bruichladdich, for example, has said that they are legally prohibited from listing the older component years in their Classic Laddie (another NAS whisky), choosing instead to redact them. Ardnamurchan, however, seems to interpret the rule differently, offering enthusiasts a fascinating glimpse into the whisky’s makeup. As someone who’s a huge fan of full transparency in whisky making, I find this addition bold, refreshing and commendable.