Just a small batch of new Ardbeg


August 22, 2024

Just a small batch of new Ardbeg

Ardbeg

Imagine that we took this photo of Ardbeg's backyard
during Feis Ile. Busy-busy, was it not. (WF Archive, 2005)

Some official ones and some independent ones. Are you familiar with Ardbeg?

Ardbeg 14 yo ‘Anthology The Unicorn’s Tale’ (46%, OB, refill bourbon and Madeira, 2024)

No, no, no, enough of these far-fetched tales! And why is everyone so enamoured with ex-Madeira casks these days? Colour: straw. Nose: rather fresh and quite simple, with lovely notes of smoked almonds, followed by putty and tar. It appears that the Madeira has mellowed this Ardbeg into something rather gentle and polite. A few hints of new rubber boots as well. Mouth: fairly light, with a touch of sweetness (white clover) and a bit of tar liqueur. A slight medicinal edge, then tinned peaches and almond milk. Finish: of medium length, soft, gentle, and saline. Some periwinkles and white wine. Touches of mercurochrome and ashes in the background. Comments: the softer side of Ardbeg peat. An easy, agreeable Ardbeg, perfect for sharing with guests who aren't whisky geeks. Perhaps they will become so after this? I did slightly prefer the 13 yo Harpy’s Tale, though. Yet more Tales.
SGP:556 - 86 points.

Ardbeg 19 yo 2005/2024 'Traigh Bhan Batch 6' (46.2%, OB, American oak & oloroso, batch #TB/06-04.04.2005/24.GM)

The new batch. I was quite taken with last year’s (WF 89). Colour: white wine. Nose: pure, crystalline Ardbeg peat, with sauvignon blanc, seawater, green apples and limes, rubber, almonds, pistachios, ashes, and a touch of light tar. Mouth: sweeter and gentler, yet again. There’s a sensation of smoked apples, a hint of oysters, marzipan, and more ashes. Finish: medium length, a bit fruity, fairly easy-going. Lemons, ashes, and smoked almonds linger in the aftertaste. Comments: nothing much to add; it's very much in line with the 2023 batch, though it feels slightly softer, perhaps. No need to pen a novel each time, I like it a lot, there.
SGP:556 - 89 points.

Ardbeg 2011/2024 (58.2%, OB, for Sweden, 1st fill manzanilla, cask #2464, 624 bottles)

Ardbeg and Manzanilla, it’s like Jagger and Richards for me, though a bit rarer. Just a reminder, Manzanilla is a fino sherry aged in Sanlúcar, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the grapes come from that part of the ‘sherry triangle’. Generally, Manzanilla is a bit lighter but slightly saltier (just a touch). Colour: dark gold. Nose: grand elegance. Green walnuts, seawater, seaweed, fresh tar, cement, and lemon peel oil. The combination seems perfect. With water: a touch of Savoyard fondue and fresh hay bale, which is rather amusing. Mouth (neat): yes, perfect, powerful, uncomplicated, with bitter orange, seawater, and salted liquorice. Then a bit of mint and those famous green walnuts. Millimetric, as they say in... Sweden. With water: that Sauvignon Blanc note previously mentioned. A lovely Pouilly-Fumé and green pepper. Finish: long, with the same notes of green pepper, walnuts, mustard, seawater, and tar... A strong charcoal note in the aftertaste. Comments: I find this young Ardbeg rather exceptional, though it is slightly aggressive. The Swedes are lucky; they’ve got a top pole vaulter and now they’ve got this Ardbeg too. A shame for dear Mackmyra, though; that’s rather sad.
SGP:567 - 90 points.

Secret Islay 13 yo 2009/2023 (58.7%, Archives, for China, ‘Birds from the Orient’, refill hogshead, cask #200000125, 300 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: utterly Ardbeggian, with rubber boots at least size EU43 (if you will) and plenty of tar, followed by camphor, bandages, and used engine oil, then loads of green olives, which we absolutely adore. With water: that old tweed jacket battered by salty maritime winds. You get the idea... Mouth (neat): our friends in China have excellent taste. Superb notes of lime juice, then candy sugar, smoked fish, olive oil again, and a touch of ink… Wow. With water: it’s almost like being transported back to the 1970s. Superb oily and maritime lemon. Finish: long, precise, assertive (why not?) and full of olives. Comments: it’s a shame that this magnificent whisky doesn’t boldly carry the Distillery’s name; it could have done wonders for the brand. We’ll be talking about this one in a few years, I’m sure of it. I love it as much as the aforementioned Swede.
SGP:567 - 90 points.

Kildalton 15 yo 2008/2023 (61.5%, The Whisky Jury for Gene’s Dram, China, refill butt, cask #5080, 132 bottles)

Kildalton 15 yo 2008/2023 (61.5%, The Whisky Jury for Lucky Choice, China, refill butt, cask #5080, 132 bottles)

Calling an Islay single malt ‘Kildalton’ that isn’t from Ardbeg would surely be an act of ultimate perversion, utterly condemned by all moral standards, wouldn’t you agree? Colour: golden. Nose: rather softer, but loaded with salted liquorice and seaweed, iodine tincture, paint and varnish, cider apples, and putty. Magnificently soft and complex on the nose, with a few pink olives and a hint of fresh fibreglass. With water: there was also a slight hint of cologne, which has now disappeared. Raw wool, rainwater, lanolin. Ardbeg. Mouth (neat): more massive on the palate, more robust, almost brutal, but that’s what one seeks from this side of the island. Then it becomes increasingly saline, taut, sharp, lemony, very fresh, chiselled, with bitter almonds, even very bitter almonds. Very lovely. With water: even saltier. Olive brine, rollmops, stalks and leaves, lapsang souchong, and a sensation of engine grease (though we’ve never tasted that, of course). Finish: long, oily, putty, paint, olives, plasticine… Comments: these spirits don’t yet have the complexity of age, but heading towards twenty years, I’m absolutely certain they’ll gain a point or two.
SGP:467 - 90 points.

Lucky Sweden, lucky China.

(Thank you mucho, Boris and Gene)

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