
December 19, 2023

The New Time Warp Sessions, Today A few official Ardbeg

This wouldn't be Whiskyfun without a few big Ardbeg sessions from time to time, don't you think? Let's say around fifteen of them this time. So today we'll try three or four recent and older officials that we haven't tasted yet, while tomorrow we may have a wild bunch of indies (some shh…ecret)
Ardbeg warehouse, 2002 (WF Archive)

Ardbeg 19 yo 'Traigh Bhan Batch 5' (46.2%, OB, American oak & oloroso, batch #TB/05-12.02.2004/23.GM, 2023)

I thought batch 3 was very good (WF 90) but I've never tried the others. You can't try everything, can you. Colour: white wine. Nose: crushed kippers in a blend of seawater, bone-dry white wine and cider vinegar, boosted with some tincture of iodine and a few bits of bandages. Someone's added bits of tyres and drops of antirust paint later on. There's also a little damp garden peat, potting soil and just rainwater over tarmac. As Ardbeggian as it gets, I would say, while the oloroso part remained pretty discreet. A few touches of fresh walnut skins. Mouth: pure zesty and tarry Ardbegness, a little fruitier on the palate (grapefruits, maracuja), with some cigar ashes (or the feeling of having smoked a pack of Craven 'A' just last night), while it would then become a little quieter, almost 'smoother'. It's not nosediving, not at all, but it is losing a little steam. Finish: the simplest part. Lemon zests, some saltiness and smoked herbs. Ashes again in the aftertaste. Comments: splendid, as expected, even if the show was a tad short, not unlike Madonna's. Well… Nah, loved it.
SGP:467 - 89 points.

Ardbeg 2002/2023 (50.2%, OB, Private Single Cask, 2nd fill bourbon barrel, cask #3290, 229 bottles)

This was still made before LVMH bought Glenmorangie /Ardbeg (and Glen Moray at that time), which happened in 2004. The cask was chosen for Gourmetpool in Germany but it doesn't say so on the labels. Colour: straw. Nose: much more fatness, despite the fact that it was refill, walnut oil, matured olive oil (I mean the olives are matured before being pressed), whiffs of metal polish, copper, brake fluid, new linoleum, oilcloth, artichoke, Barbour grease, tar… You see. Less straight coastal influences this time. With water: more olive oil yet. Mouth (neat): hot, very punchy, peppery, full of tar and ashes, chilli, glue, citrus skin (including the bitterer white stuff), peppery olive oil… This truly is a very robust Ardbeg. With water: there, citrus, apples, walnuts, grapefruit, seawater, seashells, fats… Finish: long, fat, back on peppery olive oil, with the same kind of afterburn. Some shoe polish in the aftertaste (reminds me of some silly jokes in the army) and a few fruits. Comments: rather a fighter Ardbeg. Not many prisoners.
SGP:467 - 90 points.

Ardbeg 25 yo (46%, OB, 2023 edition)

The previous official 'larger batch' 25-years-old Ardbegs we tried were the 'Lord Of The Isles', a.k.a. LOTI within the chatting circles (back then). 92-material, each and every time. This is the newest edition of the recent 25-with-the-funny-cap. Colour: light gold. Nose: in the style of the 2002, just lighter, easier, with a little more menthol and eucalyptus, as well as more fruit peel, especially tropical ones, bananas, mango peel... It is a rather gentle Ardbeg on the nose, but it's true that Lord Of The Isles was rather gentle too. Some yellow melon too. Mouth: tropical fruits indeed, grapefruits, some pinewood, then growing notes of chillies, as in the 2002 indeed, just with less power. Ashes are there too, lemon zests, pepper, olive oil, melon skin, pinewood smoke, lapsang souchong… Finish: rather long, rather on a blend of olive oil with eucalyptus and a little blood orange. Green peppercorns are back in the aftertaste. Comments: this Ardbeg from the 1990s is excellent, but there's a lot of competition from independent bottlers in these vintages, we'll see that tomorrow. And also official competition from the 1970s, of course, as we're about to see straight away...
SGP:566 - 89 points.

Ardbeg 26 yo 1975/2002 (46.2%, OB for Clan des Grands Malts, France, sherry hogshead, cask #4701, 252 bottles)

The major flaw with these official single cask Ardbegs from 1972 to 1976 is that you know what to expect, and the only surprise could come from a very hypothetical fault. Or perhaps one should invent a device that partially erases your memory, Men In Black style, so that each tasting of one of these Ardbegs remains eternally the first. In any case, cask 4701 is one of those I believe I have never tasted, although it was bottled exclusively for France. Everything comes to those who wait, as they say. Colour: dark gold. Nose: one immediately thinks of an amontillado that would have been aged in Sanlucar, with a very pronounced saline side. New tyres are also back, as well as walnut stain, parsley, rosemary, salted butter caramel, old leather, sweet mustard, cigars... There's also a bit of molasses, in the style of old Demerara rums, notes of slightly burnt cake, ointments, balms, camphor... It's a real whirlwind but the whole remains very solid, firmly rooted in its native terroirs of Islay and Jerez. Mouth: incredibly rich and oily, almost thick, with a very dry sherry, very much on nuts and curry, and also an old vin jaune side. Overall, the palate remains much more compact than the nose, which is quite usual. Finish: very long, with a strong return of peat smoke, ashes, saltiness, seaweed... While tar and salted liquorice come back like a spring in the aftertaste, with some currants. Comment: we have our plum-pudding for Christmas! IN any case, these vintages are unbeatable, we'll have more of then tomorrow.
SGP: 467 - 94 points.

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