Our remote Feis Ile 2025, today at Ardbeg


May 31, 2025

Our remote Feis Ile 2025, today at Ardbeg

It’s always been an absolute nightmare, we've never managed to attend Ardbeg’s Open Day because I’ve always had to leave the island either on the day itself or the day before, for various reasons. But of course, there were private parties in the week leading up to it... Right then, we’ll taste two legends, and then we’ll head towards ‘Kildaltons’ if we’ve got the time and the inclination…

Ardbeg 1974/2006 (48%, OB, bourbon, cask #4547, 133 bottles)

We’ve never tasted this little 1974 before! At least not formally. What’s more, there were only 133 bottles, and back then, some enthusiasts had rather odd relationships with their bottles: they were drinking them! Right then, we’ll try not to go overboard… Colour: light gold. Nose: it’s utterly mad how this smells like ‘home’. Brand new rubber boots, fresh trainers, low tide on a Hebridean shore, turpentine, engine oil, whelks, preserved lemons, camphor, cough syrup, hints of retsina… These vintages were the most beautiful ever known on Islay, and perhaps even in Scotland. Mouth: such remarkable compactness, coherence and pedigree. Let’s say preserved lemon smoked with rubber, augmented by coal tar, seawater, wakame and tar liqueur. It’s simply exceptional and we rather expected that. Finish: long, with the proverbial lapsang souchong and ever that majestic rubber, with a marmalade curiously salty and camphory, and smoked almonds. Comments: only the very slight lack of beefiness keeps me from going even higher. But what splendour!
SGP:566 - 94 points.

Ardbeg 13 yo 1975/1988 (54.2%, Gordon & MacPhail, Special Selection, Intertrade, 543 bottles)

Bit of a cheat, this one—we’ve already tasted this baby, the last time being in March 2007. Will you grant us, in your boundless generosity, the indulgence of revisiting it? Note, there were two versions, 54.2 and 54.8%, but no worries, both were rather special. Colour: full gold. Nose: the G&M style is quite evident, with a cask influence slightly more assertive yet highly elegant, leading to greater austerity, rigour, perhaps even a whiff of intellectualism (what?). Seaweed, beach bonfire, grapefruit peel, iodine tincture, ink, mint, eucalyptus, Islay soil post-rainfall (so, always), fresh concrete… With water: wet dogs, Provençal herbs, that old tweed jacket that’s weathered many a Scottish winter, those unbelievable little citrus fruits… Might be time to summon the AMB? That’s it, the Anti-Maltoporn Brigade. Mouth (neat): of utterly astonishing compactness. Citron, smoke, salt, myrtle, tar. With water: we’ll say no more, other than to caution you about diluting these peaty drams. Water, yes of course, but in moderation, lest they collapse. Seriously. Finish: unforgettable. Comments: just a hair below the OB, which was ultimately more compact and coherent, while also more immediate. In any case, it’s absolutely splendid.
SGP:466 - 93 points.

We're now going to have a few independent Kildaltons, while avoiding any pointless comparisons with the two stars we've just tasted. Rest assured, we won’t be adding any modern official NAS bottles, let’s keep this classy.

Secret Islay 2009/2023 (52.5%, The Roots, hogshead, 179 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: you can clearly sense the difference from the mid-1970s—this is more acetic, medicinal, taut, fermentative, smoky, also greener, and less compact, less rubbery. Truth be told, it’s absolutely lovely too. With water: one edges closer to peated malt, sourdough, metal polish, and seawater. Mouth (neat): believe it or not, we’re not so far from the 1975, which was roughly the same age, give or take, except here we’ve far more olives, mezcal, earth, and a slightly simpler profile—salty, lemony, with ashes. No complaints whatsoever, we’re thoroughly enjoying it. With water: how delicious! Salty rubber, lemon zest, wild thyme, and an entire crate of oysters. Finish: long, saline, taut, increasingly maritime. Seawater with plenty of old ship diesel. Comments: one can’t really say we weren’t expecting this, but honestly, this un-doctored ‘beg is simply superb. Bravo, The Roots.
SGP:467 - 91 points.

We’ll say it again, if we were the distillery, we’d be proud to have our name on such a bottle. What a waste.

Kildalton 15 yo 2009/2024 (52.2%, The Whisky Cask, sherry cask)

What could possibly go wrong—sherry, perhaps? Colour: amber. Nose: how amusing this is! Concentrated chicken stock, fir needles, all-purpose balm, kumquats, and, well, Marlboros. The worst part? It’s lovely. With water: and here comes the proverbial rubber, new boots and all that. Mouth (neat): a magnificent little monster, with zest, Jägermeister, leather, mentholated tobacco, baijiu, seawater, and leather again. It’s explosive and we love it, even if it’s a touch lacking in finesse. Who cares. With water: another bottle to cellar for twenty or thirty years (a note to younger whisky enthusiasts). Finish: long, though a bit more rustic. Leaves, leather, and slightly bitter nuts. Comments: the sherry probably posed a slight handicap here, but it’s still very lovely indeed, no doubt about it, despite a rather bitter finish.
SGP:477 - 88 points.

Let’s return to the pale crowd…

Secret Islay 14 yo 2009/2023 (49.3%, DramCatcher, hogshead, cask #1201)

What’s this old double-kiln on the label? Rings a bell... Colour: white wine. Nose: a stroll through a meadow thick with wildflowers, with a campfire smouldering in one corner while a few ageing millionaire hippies in brand-new wellies puff away on… You get the picture—it’s simple, but it works. Mouth: very simple, very lovely, very compact. Paraffin and smoked sesame oil, lemon, seawater, oysters… Finish: just the same, with an extra twist of pepper. Comments: perhaps not the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, but it’s got its charm. A fine simplicity.
SGP:466 - 88 points.

Let’s bring back the sherry…

Islay Single Malt 15 yo 2009/2024 ‘Supernova’ (57.5%, Connoisseurs Dram, 1st fill oloroso sherry, cask #200000114, 422 bottles)

There’s little doubt as to the origin of this wee dram. But shall we survive yet another Supernova? Colour: gold. Nose: ultra-precise, mentholated, lemony, with green apple and the proverbial rubber, and an oloroso that only manifests through green walnut, which we find most pleasing. You get the drift. With water: virgin wool, sourdough, old tweed and suchlike. Mouth (neat): immaculate, compact, on smoked marmalade, seawater and tarred rubber. Or rubbery tar, whichever you prefer. Arrival of bitter liquorice wood, essential mint oil and salt. With water: I wouldn’t say it’s been tamed, but we’re edging closer to lemon and grapefruit zest. Finish: long, more medicinal, and frankly rather uncompromising. Notes of green walnut and eucalyptus in the aftertaste. Comments: when you give something like this to beginners and tell them all of it was in the malt from the start, they usually don’t believe you. A fine beast.
SGP:467 - 90 points.

There’ll be more to come soon. Adios Fèis Ìle 2025 — see you next year, hopefully in person and not virtually.

(Merci to Fuji, KC, Thierry and The Golden Promise)

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