
December 20, 2023

The New Time Warp Sessions, Ardbeg Part Two, quite a few indies, some undercover

There will be some that I have already tasted and scored, but without ever having written any proper tasting notes, at least not for little Whiskyfun.

A place everyone just loves, The Old Kiln Café at Ardbeg, 2006 (WF Archive)

Secret Islay Distillery 13 yo 2009/2023 (54.2%, Acla Selection, 10th anniversary, hogshead, cask #104, 90 bottles)

Despite the stag's head on the label, this is neither Glenfiddich nor any other distillery fond of featuring deer, and there are many, even if the practice seems to be falling out of favour. Indeed, a little bird (or rather a fawn) whispered in my ear that this was indeed an Ardbeg... We only publish 'secret Islay' as Ardbeg (or Laphroaig, Lagavulin, etc.) when we are 95-100% certain of the actual origin. Colour: straw. Nose: has someone slipped raw wool into a smoking chamber? Or perhaps an entire sheep? And green apples, inner tubes, a touch of incense, burnt seaweed, herrings and adhesive tape? In fact, it's very close to the official 'Ten', which I adore. With water: lots of wool, washing powder, yeast, smoked porridge... Mouth (neat): nothing to say, it's impeccably Ardbeg, with lots of smoke, ashes, crushed pepper, hair lotion (really), myrtle, sea water... With water: perfect, with apple and lemon. Finish: long, totally on the 'Ten', with just a bit more power. Comments: they actually did a 10-year-old cask strength for Japan. And the famous 'Mor'...
SGP:367 - 91 points.

Ardbeg 14 yo (50.8%, Whisky Racing, Jack Wiebers, bourbon cask, 120 bottles, 2023)

One might expect this to be a top-notch Ardbeg. Indeed, it's true that one sometimes finds exhaust fumes, akin to a Grand Prix start (or the Paris ring road at rush hour), in certain Ardbegs. Colour: light gold. Nose: this one is more on oily and mineral notes, limestone, pebbles on the beach, also indeed raw wool, engine oil, I even detect a bit of shea butter and fresh almonds, as well as macadamia nuts (ever tried opening those?). With water: fruit and vegetable peelings and a lot of smoke. The wool and engine oil remain very present. Palate (neat): powerful, with notes of camphor but also more mature apple, apple sauce, custard, a bit of seawater, a bit of kirsch... It's less of a typical Ardbeg than the previous one, if you catch my drift, but it remains excellent. With water: lemon and granny smith apple come through, along with a slightly sweeter side, featuring coconut. Likely the bourbon cask. Finish: long, quite round and fatty. Comments: just very, very good.
SGP:567 - 88 points.

Ardbeg 14 yo 2008/2023 (63.8%, Cut Your Wolf Loose, refill butt, 274 bottles)

This one seems quite lethal; we'll need to take some precautions, such as not immersing our nose in the glass for more than a minute and not downing 3cl at once. Of course, we never do that (promise). Colour: gold. Nose: I like it! Pine resin on a hot August afternoon, teak oil, various paints and coatings, engine grease, tar, overripe apples... But it's slightly restrained by the very high alcohol content. We'll remedy that immediately: seawater, strong beer, sorrel and spinach, silt, mussels, oysters, tar... To be honest, it has a slight oil spill aspect to it. I know that's not a very attractive descriptor, but it's somewhat accurate. Mouth (neat): it knocks you flat instantly. Petrol, surgical spirit, acacia gum, bitters... With water: ah, here we are, a very nice Ardbeg, rather sweet, with smoked brown sugar (or something like that) and lots of tobacco, cough syrup, tar, and fireplace ashes. Finish: long, still quite sweet, caramelised, with a hint of liquorice... A more medicinal side again in the aftertaste. Comments: to tell the truth, these independent Ardbegs are all quite different from one another. This one was actually quite rich, probably because it was from a butt.
SGP:557 - 88 points.

Red Bag #2 17 yo 2006/2023 (57.2%, Dramfool, bourbon hogshead, cask #3, 249 bottles)

Of course, we love the name. We ourselves produced many anagrams of this sort about fifteen years ago, I even believe we came up with 'Old Bed Rag' for an independent bottler, but it was far less elegant than 'Red Bag', that's for sure. Colour: gold. Nose: this time it's very much on sunflower oil, sage, rather greasy mineral oils, even a bit of ham fat (moderately, of course), then flowers, which isn't very common in Ardbeg, but we're definitely not in the realm of Aldi or Tesco air fresheners, rest assured. With water: let's call it a caressing Ardbeg. Notes of banana cake from a renowned patisserie. Mouth (neat): splendid, a tropical Ardbeg this time, with mango, papaya, indeed pineapple and banana. The citrus adds a wonderful tension. I adore this style. With water: long, with more spices. Curry is added to the bananas. Finish: quite long. The peat smoke comes out strongly in the aftertaste, but otherwise, it remains sweet and complex. Comments: it reminds a little bit of the old official 17-year-old. Now the latter was a bit of a letdown at the time, whereas this sweet and most agreeable Red Bag is just splendid.
SGP:656 - 90 points.

Let's go back in time…

Ardbeg 29 yo 1993/2023 (51.5%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 164 bottles)

It's quite pricey, but that's to be expected, and we commend the decision to present it in exactly the same bottle as, let's say, a Macduff aged 6 years or a Girvan aged 8 years. Old school! Colour: gold. Nose: it's beautiful, maritime, rounder, with liqueurs and oils and, notably, a lot of liniments, ointments, and balms, on top of dried seaweed and the old shipwrecked boat on the beach. There are also hints of mojito and pastis. Yes, indeed. With water: more herbal teas, sweet mint, verbena, absinthe... Mouth (neat): both sweet and spicy at the same time, maybe very slightly disjointed, with notes of old wood and overripe apples, then notes of salty tea, mushrooms, herbal teas, old mint liqueur... There's a certain fragility that has come to light, but it's quite charming. With water: careful, not too much water or it goes towards pineapple wine and chamomile. Otherwise, it remains very elegant, very beautiful, even if a bit fragile. Finish: medium length, sweet, slightly medicinal. Comments: very beautiful, almost moving, but we will never know if it would have been even better at 25 years, or even 20 years of age. The peat has gone into 'discreet' mode.
SGP:555 - 88 points.

Since we were at Cadenhead's...

Ardbeg 11 yo 1991/2002 (62.2%, Cadenhead's, Bond Reserve, bourbon hogshead, 306 bottles)

We were quite fond of this other series from Cadenhead. We've tried this before, utterly loved it, but never wrote any tasting note. Now is the time, twenty years later... Colour: straw. Nose: a strong presence of varnish, glue, cider vinegar, oysters, acetone, and that's about it at 62%, which is normal. With water: sharp lime, nail polish, more varnish, mop, old tweed, salty porridge, sourdough... Truly in the midst of nature. Mouth (neat): is this even legal? Acetone, glue, and kirsch fresh from the still. In short, wonderful promises... With water: roots, smoke and salt, candied turnips, sauerkraut, green pepper, samphire, seawater, sea urchins, oysters, salted butter... And a bit of chilli and Tabasco. Finish: long, a bit more candied, very lightly honeyed. Sour turnip is back in the aftertaste, complemented by pickled anchovies. Comments: it's quite mad. I had this baby at 95 points on my list (but remember, without any proper note) but to be completely honest, I couldn't remember why such a high score. Never drink and taste! It's very much to my taste, but let's not get carried away... A rather wild young Ardbeg.
SGP:567 - 90 points.

Ardbeg 30 yo 1991/2023 (47.7%, La Maison du Whisky and Spirits Shop Selection, Artist, bourbon hogshead, cask #1900657, 158 bottles)

Marvellous label with a wonderful 'crackled' effect. In reality, it's 'over 30 years old', of course. It's hard to see what could go wrong with this old Ardbeg distilled by the Laphroaig team, with Ian Henderson already at the helm. Remember that Ardbeg, although officially closed, continued to produce occasionally under the stewardship of Laphroaig, which was owned by the same parent company, namely the various entities of 'Allied'. Colour: gold. Nose: this Ardbeg is exceptionally smooth, with smoked fruits and flowers, if such a thing could exist. Gravenstein apples, very ripe Williams pears, hints of smoked ham, precious shellfish like abalones, sea spray, notes of mashed potatoes, menthol... This Ardbeg seems to have ventured into another dimension, but we quite like it. Mouth: the peat is as peppery as it is salty, while the palate seems much more robust than the nose suggested. Smoked lemons, seawater, green pepper, ginseng, gentian, Szechuan pepper, chalk, a basaltic edge... Finish: it's long too, rather spicy while remaining quite soft, moving towards camphorated and peppered balms, wintergreen, menthol... Comments: it has been noted in the past that Ardbeg, despite its full body, wasn't necessarily cut out for very long maturation, one recalls the infamous 1965 'in white gloves' which they had to pep up a bit with rum casks. Nowadays, everyone finishes their whiskies with additional flavours, but back then, it was quite a shocking practice, beyond normal re-racking. Nevertheless, this somewhat slightly fragile 1991 vintage remains absolutely wonderful.
SGP:655 - 90 points.

Now, let's move on to the legends, like this very special '702' 'from behind the stacks' as we say, and then we'll have another...

Ardbeg 25 yo 1975/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, 702 bottles)

Right. We've already tasted it several times, probably gone through two or three bottles, truth be told, and we gave it a score of 96 points, but we've never written a single line about it on Whiskyfun (on Malt Maniacs, probably, I can't remember). It's an utterly legendary bottle. Nothing to add, let's try to finally write a tasting note worthy of the name, it's about time. Colour: golden. Nose: pure peat smoke. It's like walking through a kiln in full operation, with salmon, sorrel, mint, and apples in your pockets. But who would do that? Ashes and bacon in the background. It's an Ardbeg with surgical precision on the nose. With water: of course, at this strength, you only add a couple of drops of water, just to relax everything. And it works wonderfully, releasing old leather, horse saddle, marrow, honeys, aged Chardonnay, little candied citrus fruits, ashes... Who said Ardbeg was just about peat? Palate (neat): there's an essential, very compact, candied, concentrated aspect, focused on citrus and smokes. There's not much more to say, it's just perfect. With water: fruit jellies, quince, frozen service berries, medlar, mead (nectar of the gods), candied kumquat, overripe apple... Finish: medium length but of infinite delicacy. Who smoked all these wonderful jams? An outstanding aftertaste of every kind of pepper there is. Comments: just to be cheeky, we'll knock 1 point off this wonder. Hey, we do what we like, this isn't a public service. I'll add that this Ardbeg is absolutely not just about peat, no more than a venison stew is just about salt (what?). Anyway, you get what I mean, I'm sure. That said, be gentle with water, a single drop is quite enough.
SGP:567 - 95 points.

Ardbeg 1974/1992 (43%, Dun Eideann, Auxil Import France, casks #2026-2030, 3,800 bottles)

What more is there to say about the Ardbegs from the early 1970s that hasn't already been said and written? Their high reputation is not only due to the quality of the whiskies but also because these casks were made available as single cask or small batch precisely at the time when interest in single malts began to explode worldwide, starting in the mid-to-late 1990s. Before that, these whiskies had either been blended by the owners Allied, into the 10-year-old or into the 30-year-old 'Very Old' for the older vintages, or offered by a few independents such as Gordon & MacPhail, Cadenhead or, as is the case here, by Signatory Vintage / Dun Eideann. But it was really the purchase by Glenmorangie that lit the fuse, so to speak; before that, Ardbeg had remained a distillery for specialists. Colour: dark gold. Nose: the power is quite incredible for such a low degree of alcohol, while the style remains a bit rounder, even more pastry-like than other 1974s, which are much more peaty and on hydrocarbons. Maybe this is due to the use of sherry casks? But green Chartreuse quickly emerges from the wood, accompanied by seared scallops and even a bit of olive oil. Then we move on to much more typically Ardbeg notes, such as camphor, burnt tyres, and new inner tubes. Some Provençal herbs on the barbecue, especially thyme. Also orange zest. Palate: impressive after all these years, rich, almost a bit jammy, but camphor, cough syrup, tar, and a greasy smokiness are also part of the landscape. Some green walnuts, salt, sesame oil, olive oil, a very typical massage balm aspect... Then it moves towards more bitterness, like digestive liqueurs, for example. And then there's that slight rusticity that is quite typical too. Finish: really long, on sap, rubber, walnut liqueur... Then bitter orange marmalade and a bit of menthol. Comment: what to say, except that it's an Ardbeg 1974. Of course, we would have dreamed of a little more power, but we have to put ourselves back in the time: we're in 1992.
SGP:567 - 92 points.

(Many, many thanks, Austin and The Golden Promise!)

Check the index of all Ardbeg we've tasted so far