ABV: 50.7 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet peat and red berries. The initial impact is quite medicinal and rowdy. After a few seconds a sweet, rounded baseline emerges with notes of hot burning wood together with unscented lotion and vanilla cream. On top there are iodine and salty coastal notes. The fruitiness starts to come through as an outer layer and slowly takes over. It’s overripe black grapes and plums. There’s also a cooling mint effect up front. This is an interesting nose.

Mouth: At first the vanilla sweetness and the warm peatiness swells up. It’s still hot burning wood and now there’s a hay note coming through. It’s quite mild and the red wine influence has a juicy vibe to it with fresh red and black berries. There are still coastal notes and a small touch of iodine, but those are pushed back into the background. It’s slightly astringent and the oakiness shines through in the background.

Finish: A minty cloud passes by before the juicy berries and the warm peatiness return. The medicinal and coastal notes still reside in the background and the finish mirrors the mouth very well. The whole thing feels slightly subdued. The oak is fashionably late, but when it arrives it’s a very tasty nutty oakiness with hazelnuts a hint of dust on top. The overripe grapes and plums return as a thin note following along through the entire finish. This is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Additional information
The Blaack is a 2020 limited release exclusive to the Ardbeg committee members. It’s aged in ex-Pinot Noir wine casks from New Zealand. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.