51,8°
Distillery : Ardbeg - Islay
Ex-Rye Casks
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2020
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 54 ppm
This is a somewhat unexpected committee release that took place in January 2021, a NAS aged in rye whisky casks. It's a tribute to Mickey Heads, the distillery's managing director, whose face appears on the label, dressed in a pirate costume. He left the company after 13 years of loyal service, and this bottle was offered to him as a farewell gift. The whisky was distilled in 2007, the year Mickey Heads took up his post.
Let's Taste It :
Fruity iodine. I don't know whether it's pineapple or greengage, mirabelle or banana, or perhaps all of these at once. The cereals grow behind, rye or barley? I can tell that it's sweet, fresh, pastoral, with hints of young wood, bread dough, yeast, sage leaf, loukoum. The smoke appears at last, rather light, seeking to harmonise rather than impose itself, unusual for Ardbeg. Chouquettes, bread crust, white crumb. Flour. The addition of water brings out a dash of vanilla. Still cereal, puffed wheat, popcorn. Laurel. On the palate, white fruits, plum, very pleasant, light spices, curry, turmeric, ras el hanout, then a few grains of salt. Beautiful finish, which seems to climb to the top of a tree, first the bark, then the branches, the leaves, finally hazelnuts, acorns, nuts. Coal and earth, of course, as well as a bit of cola. Appropriately long, without being overwhelming. Soda. Lemonade.
In Short,
A good Committee Release, if you ask me. Wonderful balance. On the other hand, maturation in Rye Whiskey casks erases the character of the distillate a bit, you can barely feel the peat. Well, obviously, it's far too expensive for what it is, but it's already worth more than a few of CR's other bottlings, almost all of them over the last four years, I must say.
Score : 88
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Wintersun - Time
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