46°
Distillery : Ardbeg - Islay
Ex-Bourbon Casks
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2022
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured
Peated around 54 ppm
Bottled in December 2022 but released in May 2023 for Feis Ile, this is the latest limited edition batch from Ardbeg. It was distilled without using the still purifier, which normally captures excessively heavy vapours, allowing them to be released this time around.
Let's Taste It :
Powerful but fairly clear smoke, peat rubbed with icing sugar. Vanilla sweets, lychees, crème fraîche. Then comes the distillery's typical herbaceous character, with a few iodine notes and a hint of candied lemon zest. In the background, tar, gravel, a hint of fuel oil that sticks to your fingers. Hot caramel. Beautiful maritime breadth, damp cellar, even half-flooded. The palate, on the other hand, is too light despite a mountain of peat and various spices. Pear, white peach, apple, and that's it. Fairly good finish, long but not really strong, hot ashes, black pepper, damp earth, cumin. Sheep's cheese. Mint pastille.
In Short,
Overall, I found it rather gentle, reminiscent of Ten but younger and sweeter, with nothing heavy about it. I liked the nose, but it lacks a little complexity, the finish is OK, but on the palate it clearly lacks maturity and consistency. At the price it's sold for, they could have made more of an effort. I wouldn't buy it, even at half price. A few years ago, I said that Drum was the weakest of the limited editions, but frankly, Drum is very good compared to this one.
Score : 86
To Be Listened While Sipping :
Hanggai - The Vast Grassland
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