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Ardbeg
Port Ellen,
Argyll PA42 7DU
+44 1496 302 244

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Owner: Glenmorangie Plc

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Creation date: 1815

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photos

	Ardbeg
			Sample
O.B.	Ten	18
	Seventeen	17 3/4
	Airigh nam Beist	18
	Almost There	18
	Still Young	19
	Uigeadail	18 2/3
	Very Young 2004	17 2/3
	1977	19 1/2
	Committee Reserve	18 5/6
	Lord of the Isles	19
Bresser&Timmer / The Nectar	Still very young Islay Single Malt	18
Douglas Laing	Old Malt Cask, 1993	18 2/3
Gordon & MacPhail	Gordon & MacPhail, 1996	18
Jack Wieber	Cross Hill 1993-2007
M&H	1990 Roberto Alonzi

 

Ardbeg 10 years
Age	10 years
Alcohol	46°
Particularity	Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 All the iodised delicacy of the Isle of Islay is present in this marvelous whisky. To preserve the fragrances, Ardbeg decided not to chill filter this version. What a good idea... The rich fragrances, the smoke and peat smelt are present in this bottle which is an absolute must in each whisky collection. The finish is too short according to me. The very light colour could surprise at first side, but should not be an obstacle, even for those used to drink whisky matured in sherry casks, and where some caramel was added...

At the second tasting, the nose was strongly marked by the smoke, but it remained remarkably fine and subtle. The smoke is also very present in the palate, on a malt background. The whole is very pleasant, even if the finish is too short. It is however very warm and pleasant.

The nose, clearly marked by smoke but also by some sea breeze memories announces a very fine and complex whisky. In the mouth, first a peaty taste, rather dry. An earth taste with nice martime hints and a nice presence. The finish is rather short, ans the peaty hints mix with smoke and salt.

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Apperance: Sunlight.
Looks just as young as it is. N
ose: Straight nose has lots of tar and smoke. A slight acetone scent and smoked sausage. A bit prickly. The tar and smoke remains in the diluted dram while the overall feel is warmer and saltier. Soy sauce, fresh ocean breeze, air cleaner, new rubber and old sweat.
Body: Quite light, smalish. Palate: Interesting. Quite salty and dry. Pretty complex palate at first but seems to be fading. Birch-like and edgy. Feels chemical but quite nice.
Dusty finish.

 

Ardbeg 17 years
Age	17 years
Alcohol	40°
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 Although an excellent typical whisky from Islay, this version satisfies me less than the younger version , 10 years old. The difference is probably that the younger version is not chill filtered, and that all the fragrances are less present in this older version.

At the second tasting, the nose reveals discreetly some sweet (honey?) but rather complex peat hints, does not really announce the taste which is less typical, and a little bit deceiving. Sweetness is still there, but where is the complex character of a great malt? The finish is rather short.

The nose shows a very nice balance between discrete but well present peat and smoother malty notes. In the mouth, still this smoothness and a kind of lack of character, probably due to the percentage of alcohol, even if it is obvious that this whisky is an example of distinction and that the tongue walks through nice sensations. The finish is rather long, with some iodine hints.

Nice floral fragrances soon followed by fruity scents characterise this very pleasant nose. A light veil of smoke and discrete hints of yeast follow soon.
The palate is marked by pleasant slightly acid tastes mixing with a nice bitterness. Contrast and balance.
The finish is lingering prolongs perfectly the mouth.

 

 

Ardbeg Committee Reserve
Age	Non age Statement
Alcohol	55,3°
Particularity	Cask Strength
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

 The discrete hints of smoke and peat do not really announce all the intense pleasure there is to taste this exceptional malt. A great richness in very subtle tastes, never very far from the characteristic peaty smoke taste of this great Islay distillery. The choice of the casks to produce this special release reserved to Ardbeg Committee members is very wise. A long finish, very nuanced prolongs the great pleasure from tasting this exceptional bottling.

A second tasting has confirmed the first one. A remarkable nose, slightly medicinal with sea hints followed by an explosion of fragrances in the typical touches of Islay: peat, sea and smoke. A real jewel with a very long finish.

At the third tasting, the nose was very complex, peated and smoky, but also rather sweet, strong and fresh. A wonderful combination of sensations. This nice start will be followed by an even greater complexity in the palate. Peat and smoke are still present, but with fresher hints, nearly acid and fruity ones. A very long finish, salted and marine, completes the whole and makes this bottle an unforgettable one, with some smoked fish touches, and memories of great ocean waves.

The nose is rather marked by fruits on a background of smoke and some slightly acid citrus notes, without any aggressivity. Tangerine touches and a slight smell of walnut announce a complex whisky. In the mouth, a mix of sweetness, bitterness and acidity, perfectly balanced, offer unusual complexity. A mix of salted nuts, liquorice, malt and light smoke, with a discrete touch of chocolate. No hinder from the relatively high percentage of alcohol. The finish is lingering, salty, iodinized and maritime.

The first nosing reveals nice smoky hints, and behind this smoke, some nice fruity notes (citrus) and remarkable peaty hints. A smell of wet earth as well. The whole is very rich in flavours and really complex.
In the palate, peat and citrus fruits seem to dominate, and some fine woody touches are present too. A great balance between citrus acidity and peat dryness, which is nearly magic. A great pleasure.
The finish is lingering, salty, very pleasant. A really great Ardbeg.

A light hay smell developing slowly on smooth fruitier hints, Nice freshness with rather pleasant acid notes. A touch of smoke and even peat on quite a discrete remote background. Marshmallow too.
The first mouth is quite acid before developing on peaty notes, but the citrus aspect dominates quite soon.
The finish is quite long and pleasant. Peat (an earthy dry peat) dominates finally.
After rereading the older tasting notes, it seems the quality of this bottle has decreased with the time (it has been open for a very long time) and that peaty aspects have nearly disappeared from both the nose and the mouth.

 

 

Ardbeg Uigeadail
Age	Non age Statement
Alcohol	54,2°
Particularity	Cask Strength
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

 

A wonderful smoke and peat smell, very complex but with a kind of mystery announces a great malt. A very great malt even, a real Ardbeg. The palate is extremely complex. It is one of the most beautiful Islay whiskies I ever tasted. A mix of traditional Ardbeg taste (smoke and peat) with something mysterious and very pleasant. Add a very long and very pleasant finish, recalling all the fragrances detected by nose and mouth, and you'll have one of the best whiskies on earth...

Peat, iodine and smoke, with something more, something sweet and strong at the time, something animal, cocoa are characteristics of a very intense nose. In the palate, some slightly acid hints, on a background of liquorice, peat and smoke. What a complex whisky! What a fragrances fireworks. A lingering and warm finish, with some acidity at the begriming, lemon, and clear hints of smoke. What a whisky!
What an Ardbeg !

The nose is clearly marked by peat smoke and some citrus fruit hints on the background. A touch a spices overall. In the mouth, a nice mix of peat, malt and citrus fruit, with a touch of bitterness giving a special character to the whole. A rather complex and varied palate. A pleasant finish, lingering and warm, which prolongs the happiness this whisky gives.
.

 Comment by Henrik Johansson

Date of tasting: 2/12 2007
Appearance: Amber-like old gold. Clear copper-like glints
Nose: Peaty bonfires, grilled vegetables and damp leather, liquorice hints, some sulphuric whiffs and solvent elements (nail varnish remover, paint and acid drops) in the background, quite a prickle at cask strength. The reduced nose lends ocean-like fumes along with a new found fruitiness -mainly cooked fruits -stewed apples perhaps. Still quite solvent. Peppery, herbal and cut paper hints also emerge.
Body: Very firm, medium to heavy
Palate: Long and intense. Nice grilled flavours, sweet and full bodied. Very smooth feel and nice development with some hot, prickly burnt sticks taste in the finish along with just a hint of sherried sweetness. Very well balanced and pleasant for the Islay lover

Ardbeg Very Young 2004
Age	6 years
Alcohol	58,3°
Particularity	Cask Strength Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

A very peaty nose, probably too peaty. A real Ardbeg, sometimes missing nuances and subtlety. The palate deals with a serious whisky. Not necessarily with a subtle one. The young age has probably a great influence on this impression. The time will certainly contribute to enhance the complexity of this malt, promising, not yet ripe however. The finish is rather pleasant, long, slightly acid, and the whole makes it a good whisky. The question is however: why market such a young whisky? The fact is unusual enough to be mentioned.

The nose is clearly dominated by peat and marine hints are present too. This whisky is obviously immature. In the mouth, the same "youth" impression. A clear lack at complexity, but this whisky will becomea very nice one when it reaches it maturity. The finish is rather long, quite sugared and marked by oily peat and smoke.

The nose is clearly marked by a nice oily peat. Beautiful hints of smoke hiding discrete fruity notes and some touches of hay. In the palate, a mix of peat and citrus fruit with refined pleasant woody notes. Beer yeast notes to complete the scene. Nice general impression. The finish is rather long and chocolate hints share the attention with smoke and peat.

 

Ardbeg Still Young 2006
Age	8 years
Alcohol	56,2°
Particularity	Cask Strength Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The nose is gently marked by a mix of peat and smoke, letting some nice floral notes and clear vanilla hints appear. In the palate, a delicious sweet-bitter mix, with successively peated and slightly woody hints, and some finely acid touches. The finish is very pleasant, lingering and warm, with some memories of smoke and a kind of bitterness.

Ardbeg Almost There 9 years
Age	9 years
Alcohol	54.4°
Particularity	Single cask Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The nose is clearly marked by fine peat and the young character of this whisky is obvious. Discrete hints of citrus fruit give it a kind of freshness. In the palate, citrus notes are pleasantly mixed with the peat, but it has a lack at complexity, despite its undisputable qualities. Nice finish, fresh and lingering, in the exact line of the mouth. Some more complexity would have been appreciated however.

Ardbeg Airigh nam beist 1990- 2006
Age	No age statement
Alcohol	56,246
Particularity	Cask Strength
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

A very nice peated nose. Oily peat and clear wax notes. In the palate, a very pleasant mix of peat and citrus in a beautiful and complex balance. A hint of smoke on the background. Then the presence of alcohol becomes obvious, and finally some fine woody hints join in the dance. Strange, but is seems that the tastes appear sequentially in this whisky. Quite a long finish, with peat and smoke hints making room after a while to the acid notes which already followed peat in the palate.

Ardbeg 1977
Age	no age statement
Alcohol	46°
Particularity	Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

The nose is subtly powerful, mixing iodine, peat and smoke on a remote citrus fruit background, and revealing lots of other fragrances, each of them being delicately maritime. A real firework in the palate. A firework of aromas, even close to earth as to sea, with some slightly acid hints (citrus fruit), but gently hidden by a powerful chocolate fragrance mixed with some nutty aromas. A very light woody impression, but so discrete that is really becomes a part of the whole, without dominating, just like any other fragrance in the marvelous whisky. A very lingering pleasant finish, summarizing perfectly all the pleasures this very nice bottle gave during nosing and tasting..

An amazing both fresh and peaty nose. Nice and discrete hints of citrus and exotic fruits behind a veil of smoke. Just a very nice balance, no overwhelming domination by any of the components. Balance and lightness characterise the best this promising nose. It develops constantly, without losing any of its initial qualities.
In the palate, peat is the first to appear, first smooth but getting stronger and stronger, giving a sensation of dryness in the mouth, developing soon on fruity notes with a nice acidity which comes over the initial peaty notes.
The finish is very interesting too, with still this perfect balance between peat and fruit. It is exceptionally long, both warm and fresh.
This is a bottle made from nuances. It is exceptionally refined.

 

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles
Age	25 years
Alcohol	46°
Particularity	Non chill filtered
Bottler	Official
Price/litre

An unusual delicate nose, maritime, salty with a touch of peat on the background, developing delicate hints of malted barley and smells close to marshmallow. No aggressiveness at all. A nice complex palate, sugared and salted at the time, with discrete hints of citrus fruit on a background of peat and seaweed, exhaling some woody hints, the whole being superbly balanced. A lingering finish, marked by some remote hints of dry peat, memories of citrus and woody touches (or walnut ones). A remarkable bottle, which however contrasts with many other products of the same distillery. Such a delicacy and sweetness. No smoky and heavily peaty attacks like other bottlings.

The nose is rather discrete for the few first minutes, but when it reveals all its potential, it's very great, very complex, very smooth and very delicate. No heavy peat like in other bottlings fo this distillery. Just a delicacy. Chocolate, or even more likely, cocoa, a touch fo citrus fruit. A discrete peat hint, a remarkable balance. In the palate, the same impressions as at nosing, with a nice development then on peat then on smoke, with a light touch of citrus sometimes. The lingering finish is very pleasant, and here again peat and smoke appear randomly.

 

Ardbeg Old Malt Cask Distilled 1993, bottled january 2004 10 years
Age	10 years
Alcohol	50°
Particularity	Non chill filtered Single cask
Bottler	Douglas Laing
Price/litre

The Ardbeg typical hints of smoke and peat are present from the very first nosing. But there is more... some slightly acid notes, recalling the smell of orange mixed with pudding. A very complex smell, from malted sweetness to slight acidity, through smoke and peat. A great pleasure. The palate recognises a pallet of tastes, from the smoke to citrus, sweet-sour. Great art. A wonderful finish, sweeter than the palate, completes this very nice whisky.

The nose detects smoke and peat from a distance. The nose is complex, revealing some slightly acid hints. In the palate, the same complexity, and a very pleasant smoke, just like eating an open fire... A very nice and lingering finish, where the smoke and the peat remain dominating. A very pleasant Ardbeg.

The nose is clearly marked by oily peat and nice citrus fruit hints, which gives it an nice dimension. The same peaty impression with this nicely fruity (orange, banana) taste characterizes the palate. A nice complexity is worth to be noted as well. Citrus, peat, barley, warmth and pleasure. The finish is rather long and warm, and fruity hints come back in the mouth after a while, followed by some woody touches.

 

Ardbeg Connoisseurs Choice 1996
Age	9 years
Alcohol	46°
Particularity	Non chill filtered Single cask
Cask	Bourbon
Bottler	Gordon & MacPhail
Price/litre

The nose is marked by a mix of dry peat and citrus fruit (orange), well balanced and with a kind of freshness which is rather unusual for an Ardbeg. Hints of spices as well. The palate is complex, and some liquorice hints flirt with touches of lemon, on a discrete background of peat, giving a dry and earthy character to the whole. A nice finish, quite complex and lingering, salted, and here again, this impression of dry earth.
.
A very clear nose, marked by both smoke and peat, with some fresh hints of citrus fruit and a touch of medicinal hints. The palate is nicely complex, with first some rather present peaty hints, followed by touches of dead leaves and mushrooms, with from time to time a hint of citrus giving the whole a nice fresh impression. The finish is pleasant, first on citrus fruit, and developing progressively on the nose's and mouth's smokey and peaty notes.

Ardbeg Still Very Young 2000-2007 Daily Dram & The Whisky Fair
Age	No age statement
Alcohol	62.6°
Bottler	Daily Dram & Bresser&Timmer
Price/litre

Quite an "Ardbeg nose"... Nice oily peat, smoke, mice farm smells, warmth of hay mixed with cattle smells, iodine, a touch of citrus fruit hidden behind all this; the whole is nicely balanced and announces an excellent whisky.
In the palate, it does not try to dissimulate its power. Whaou. 62% of alcohol cannot be discrete in the mouth of a whisky drinker. However, if your palate is used to cask strengths, it could survive without to much irreversible damage... Nice complexity, with nutty notes (hazelnut) merged with fruity hints, impressions of coffee, moka. Adding some water is quite a good idea for this dram and also for your papilla's. Water addition reveals fully the smoke notes and the complexity in the mouth is enhanced. This whisky gets suddenly very smooth and the nutty notes develop on fine wood by slow increase of the bitterness impression.
The finish is long and the nice memory of the warm cowshed near the sea prolongs the pleasure for long minutes.

Ardbeg The Cross Hill 1993
Age	14 years
Alcohol	56,3°
Bottler	Jack Wieber
Price/litre

Ardbeg 1990 Roberto Alonzi
Alcohol	54.4°
Bottler	M&H

Isle of Islay

The Isle of Islay on the West coast, is by far the most appreciated producing area amongst the single malt lovers. Even if its surface is rather small, there are no less than 8 active distilleries, including a new one.

Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information about the Isle of Islay area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow