Ardbeg IBs don’t come around all that often, so when placing an order and filling out some samples to make shipping better, I was pretty thrilled to find this one. The price of this was super high, even for a limited Ardbeg, and the secondary market saw that price go up even more and this would really only be a bottle for the most enthusiastic of Ardbeg fans. The price of the sample, though, was pretty modest relative to what expensive drams at bars cost around here. If any of you are considering picking up a bottle, hopefully this can help you with that decision.
Minutia: Distilled in 2000 and bottled in 2018 by The Whisky Exchange for the 10th anniversary of The Whisky Show yielding 225 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Tawny, 1.4.
Nose: Smoke and fruit. Astringent. Vaguely sweet.
Taste: Intensely smoky, savory flavor, heat.
Finish: Malt, pepper, peat. Medium-long, but residually long.
Guess: Port Charlotte with an atypical cask.
I wish I knew what this cask was, it produced a very good whisky. After the reveal, it’s clear as day to me that this is Ardbeg. It feels like it’s not just ex-Bourbon due to the fruit, but it could really be any kind of finish. I don’t think it has a strong enough influence to have spent it’s whole life in a wine/Sherry cask. This dram feels like a meal.
Score: 88
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