I have never been and probably never will be a member of any whisky committee or proud owner of one square Islay turf, or any other of that sort. But I will be a proud owner of a bottle at any time if possible. I'm not too big a fan of the sort of extravagant marketing and pr-stunts some of the distilleries puts out nowadays, but Ardbeg seems to have created a lot of fuzz with theirs. Alligators and Rollercoasters and all that jazz flying of the shelves. I'll have four bottlings that were available on the "free" market, although the Supernova was reserved by the committee back in 2009, I got one that was fair game back in 2010. What I'm trying to say is that while I do fancy myself an Ardbeg every so often, I'm not sure I'm such a fan of the way they are sometimes getting a lot of attention as a cause of many limited editions. Those editions often carries much good casks that the standard vattings then are depraved of. I guess one of many counterparts for this could be Glencadam, which I think is brilliantly excellent (...I know) at all standard bottlings, both 10 and 15. Anyway, I'm way off the topic now, let's have these Ardbegs and hope they proves there's quality to back up all the buzz.
Ardbeg 17yo 40% OB
I think this bottling at 17yo has been discontinued. I understand as much older casks must've been used in it, and remember, the distillery were both dead and limp during 1981-1997. So chance some of this whisky has been distilled prior to the 1980's are good. Golden honey color, smells peaty and burnt. Coastal, salty, burnt juniper bushes, smoked wood, cedar wood, cigars, very nice. The taste has this plastic iodine, synthetic and burning on the tongue, followed by lots of dried herbs and peat. Powerful peaty stuff. This could be any young diluted standard Islayer, like 12yo Caol Ila or Bruichladdich 10yo, but most of all maybe the 12yo Bowmore. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. If I were in a committee and had this as an exclusive, well..
A tame one, give me a Laphroaig urgently!: 4
Ardbeg 11yo 1993-2005 43% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
This one was produced during the distillery's downtime, and was charged in first fill sherry casks for 11 years. A young vibrant sherry infused peat monster? About the same color as the 17yo. Smells more on the bitter side, fino-matured? Peatier too. The taste is lightly peaty with some milky character, fresh milk and buttered crackers. Some fino bitterness and sour fruits also. Most of all it has no Islay character, and is, to be frank, a bit on the bland side. The aftertaste is light, and adding water doesn't help much, some butter and grapefruit.
Disappointed I was: 3.5
Ardbeg 22yo 1974-1996 40% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice
Twice the maturation period of the 1993'. And all this whisky were distilled way prior to 1981, so I'm expecting a bit of a different character. Will be fun to try right before the quite recent 2010 Supernova, coming right up after this. Orange hue. It smells burnt, peach tea, peat, dusty shed, yeast, fertilizer, although this might not sound too enticing, it acts pleasantly altogether. Old style. I wish they'd have this one at cask strength, but I guess there's just so so many 1974 Ardbegs left, and that most of them are ridiculously expensive by now. Word has it that its one of, if not the best vintage of Ardbegs still around. The taste is perfectly sweet, marzipan, eucalyptus, peppermint, coriander, honey, blue cheese, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric. Not as peaty as I reckon newer versions, but makes up for that and a lot more with amazing palate and a rather minty and drying aftertaste.
A special one: 8.5
Ardbeg Supernova NAS 60.1% OB 2010
As earlier mentioned, the 2009 version of this one were a committee reserve bottling, one reserved for members of the Ardbeg Committee only. I'm all for committees and I am a member of one myself, one at my local brewery, and I think that supporting local brands and producers are money well spent. Ardbeg has taken it a bit to far if you ask me, with this worldwide committee for a worldwide known brand. But that doesn't mean they don't make good whisky, and I think this one could be just that. I believe Supernova was the peatiest (highest level of peat aka ppm) when it was first released. A young peat-bomb then. It smells all on sweet vanilla and alcohol, some peat as well, bourbon wood? Definitively a young one. The taste is drying and sweet, like sugar syrup sweetness, needs water, if not this is going to make me sick. So extremely sweet. A small drop of water makes it go into a more relaxed state, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, light peatiness and some essential notes, like fabricated cotton or mineral soap.
Way too light and sweet, doesn't evolve enough given time, or water: 3.5
Next tasting: Clynelish Distillery
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