ABV: 50.1 %
Origin: Islay
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 1
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sharp and peaty. At first there’s a spiky ethanol layer attacking the nose. It feels slightly acidic while the center part presents a mix between heavy peat notes, sweetness and vanilla cream. The peat is a mix of soot, burning wood and iodine. There is a coastal side to the whole, but it’s pushed out towards the edges. It feels like it’s a bit two-dimensional and lacks a lot of complexity and depth. It’s just a sharp layer with hardly anything behind it. This is a so-and-so nose which is a bit disappointing coming from Ardbeg.

Mouth: It starts out with a peppery overtone and heavy, sooty peat. Underneath there are thin notes of toffee, liquorice, vanilla and some green apples sprinkled within. It’s very mouth forward and it feels quite unbalanced, very young and extremely spirit driven. After a while it becomes slightly dry and astringent. There’s just nothing in the background except for a bitter note, which doesn’t seem to fit in. It’s just quite poorly put together. After a few seconds there’s a miniscule floral note starting to float around on top but it’s too little, too late.

Finish: The peppery spicyness continues over the transition, as well as the peatiness. There are no surprises when the center notes reappear. It’s mainly toffee, vanilla and sweet liquorice. The apple bits are gone and the background fills with a mix of lemon and a metallic note. It’s still dry and astringent and the bitter note is ever so present. The oakiness comes through late and it’s a rather boring fresh sawdust oakiness. This is not a great whisky. It’s shallow and lacks complexity. This is the worst Ardbeg release in a long time.

Additional information
This whisky was made with heavily roasted black malt. There’s no information regarding casks used or aging period. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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