Port Ellen 13 1979 Douglas Murdoch

For a very long while I've wanted to try a Port Ellen expression. Nearly all are just about unobtainable for me at this point, so when I saw this was available as a sample for a price that's not quite so upsetting to pay for 30 ml, I jumped on it. It's not terribly old, but I think that's a bonus as opportunities to try pre-closure Port Ellen will only skew more and more aged.

Port Ellen 13, 1979 Vintage, Douglas Murdoch, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 1979 and matured for 13 years. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Earthy, medicinal, salty peat. Something I can’t place, in the medicinal family.

Taste: Thin. Earthy-style peat impact. Ashy. Hint of something sweet.

Finish: Ashy and smoky, fairly long.

The proof is more disappointing than low proof usually is. There was a lot going on in the nose, and the finish was longer than you’d expect from that, but the taste was just too thin to fully work. I can say with certainty that the score would improve at least 3 points with a bit more substance.

Score: 86

Springbank 21

This expression, particularly here in the States, is well above what I like to spend on a bottle. Fortunately, before whiskysite stopped shipping to the US and before it ran out of stock, I was able to order a sample. I was particularly interested in this one given the rather unique makeup of casks and to see whether that worked out nicely or was an attempt to salvage an overly aggressive handful of casks.

Springbank 21 (2020 Release), Campbeltown Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 21 years in casks with a makeup of 30% ex-bourbon, 30% ex-rum, 25% ex-Sherry, and 15% ex-Port. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Brown Sherry, 1.9.

Nose: Fruity, malty, nutty. Rust, orange, leather, damp wood. Custard later.

Taste: Intense fruit, chocolate (kind of like a jelly-filled chocolate when they combine). Oak, dried fruit. Dirty, earthy.

Finish: Nutty, sweet/syrupy. Coffee. Long.

This was really quite nice. When I get these 60ml samples I split them over two pours to have one where I just experience it and one where I really focus on it. It was much better the second time around. Not bad the first one, but not terribly impressive. This does better as it spends more time in the glass, so possibly a day or two in a half-filled sample bottle had a similar effect as time in the glass. Definitely not something to pour if you’ll finish the dram in short order, but if you’ll be working on it for a while, it’s a great choice. 

Score: 91

High Coast Timmer

Part of what they called the Origins series, this is a Swedish peated single malt given the name of the Swedish word for ‘timber.’ I love peat, and I’m always interested in exploring that outside of Islay and outside of Scotland. The only peated Swedish malt I’ve had thus far was from Mackmyra which involved some juniper in the smoking as well, so it’s nice to try some more traditional peated whisky from Sweden.

High Coast Timmer, Sweden Single Malt, 48% ABV

Minutia: Matured for seven years in first fill bourbon casks in Ångermanälven, Sweden. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Grape gum, green smoke, vanilla.

Taste: Floral, fruity, smoke.

Finish: The sip of a mocha latte where you also get the cinnamon on the top in the sip. Some smoke after that, the cinnamon kinds of turns into smoke, and then it becomes like a charred marshmallow. 

Really nice, especially on the finish. The alone got this up a few points, and I’ll be following thie distillery more closely. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get a bottle of the 63, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for sure.

Score: 85

Musical Evocation: Bathory – ‘Born for Burning’

Bowmore Vault Edit1on No. 1 "Atlantic Sea Salt"

The first of a four part series of limited releases, each highlighting one of four characteristics of their whisky maturing in their No. 1 vaults warehouse.

Bowmore Vault Edit1on No. 1, Islay Single Malt, 51.5% ABV

Minutia: Matured for an undisclosed amount of time in ex-bourbon casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: A light smokiness which feels ramped up due to the ethanol hides the rest of the nose at first. Lemon meringue comes in. It takes on a smoky, creamy quality, like a smoky cookie dough.

Taste: Salty, slightly medicinal, some smoke.

Finish: Much the same, up on the salt. Orange/grapefruit in there a bit. Medium long. Much less salty if held longer in your mouth.

Goodness, this delivers the salt the label promises in spades. I don’t find it to be too much, but not much more and it would be. I’ve not experienced a finish like this where it’s so affected by how long the whisky was in the mouth before swallowing. A solid offering from Bowmore I’m glad I got a chance to try a sample of, and makes me more excited about the bottle I bought of the second release, highlighting the peat smoke. 

Score: 84

Musical Evocation: Bitter:Sweet – “Salty Air”

Bunnahabhain 12 2007 The Ultimate

After a handful of Ardbegs reviewed for Ardbeg Day, and unpeated dram felt like a good change of pace. I don’t have all that many, but chose this Sherried Bunnahabhain to keep the flavor (hopefully) strong but without the peat.

Bunnahabhain 12, 2007 Vintage, The Ultimate, Islay Single Malt, 58.1% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on February 13, 2007 and matured in a 1st fill Sherry butt, cask number 592, for 12 years and bottled on January 9, 2020 yielding 595 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Sweet, nutty, malty.

Taste: Sherry, fruity, nutty. A strong caramelized/carnalizing brown sugar on certain parts of the tongue.

Finish: About the same, but softer. Some toffee on the tail end. Medium-long.

After a stretch of unpeated whiskies below it, it’s nice to come back to an unpeated whisky near the top of how much I tend to enjoy them. A really nice, flavorful dram.

Score: 83

Glengoolie Blue 2021 (Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle)

So, last year I posted a review of every Ardbeg Day bottling released up until that point except for Blaaack as I hadn’t acquired a bottle yet and didn’t see it in any US shops. I arranged the pictures as an array of all the bottles in the “series” with the one being reviewed moved to the center. Then, after I reviewed them, I came across a bottle of Blaaack in a shop and picked it up. That meant that I could use the boxes to reset the photo for Blaaack, but the other reviews would all be lacking Blaaack in the photo which was unacceptable. As such I decided to pour a new dram just for the photo and begin an infinity/solera bottle themed around Ardbeg Day. This review is of that bottle, with approximately 50ml of each release from Alligator to Blaaack marrying in the bottle for a year, with Scorch added afterward to marry until next year. Since my buddy saved his empty Blue Label bottle for me for purposes of an infinity bottle, I bought some stickers from etsy to make this the bottle an approximation of the prestigious one seen in Archer.

Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle, Glengoolie Blue, Islay Single Malt, 48.78% ABV

Minutia: A vatting of approximately 50ml of every Ardbeg Day release from Alligator through Blaaack, with about a year in the bottle. ABV is a ballpark average of the ABVs of the components. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Mahogany, 1.6.

Nose: Woody, not terribly smoky.

Taste: Oaky, earthy/herbal.

Finish: Short, mild.

This feels a bit underwhelming, but in the way that much older whisky can be, not a 40%, chill-filtered, NAS release. It’s neat, and I’m looking forward to how it changes as the annual releases get added.

Score: 81

Musical Evocation: Kenny Loggins – “Danger Zone”

Ardbeg Scorch

Managed to get a bottle of this year’s Ardbeg Day release from Total Wine Concierge so it wasn’t marked up to some of the wild prices I’ve seen for this. It was released to celebrate Ardbeg Day and, while it was a nailbiter, I got the email to pick it up in time to review on Ardbeg Day! Of particular interest to me is that evidently some amount of casks involved in this were filled right after they were dumped for Alligator, the current crownholder among whiskies I’ve tried.

Ardbeg Scorch, Islay Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Matured in casks which were previously used for Alligator, this time called “dragon-scorched,” filled when they were dumped putting them at just shy of 10 years old. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amontillado Sherry, 0.9.

Nose: Earthy. Green smoke.

Taste: Sweet smoke, like cake but not cloying. There’s no meatiness that I got, but it made me think of a barbecue sauce heavier with the brown sugar and not so much the vinegar being cooked over a grill using wood, not charcoal.

Finish: Light feel, into a pretty big smoky finish. Charred wood. Medium-long.

I was quite taken by this. I’m not used to big sweetness in Ardbeg as it usually runs in that earthy/vegetal/herbal world for me, and it was a welcome sweetness without approaching that confectionary level that, while it can be nice sometimes, would not have played well with the rest of this. The CR must be something else.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Epica – “Chasing the Dragon”

Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg!

A special release to celebrate the retirement of Mickey Heads, a release matured in ex-rye casks rather than the standard ex-bourbon casks. A silly MSRP, and even sillier actual prices in stores and on the secondary market, I managed to find a bottle and bit the bullet, figuring it could yield some return on investment for use in sample swaps. I figured since it was a Committee Release, Ardbeg Day would be a great time to post a review.

Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg!, Islay Single Malt, 51.8% ABV

Minutia: Matured for some amount of time in ex-rye casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Pale gold, 0.3.

Nose: Vegetal, smoke, a weird fruit. Beachy but not maritime if that makes sense.

Taste: Vegetal, some fruitiness/sweetness, spices. 

Finish: Bitterness/oaky, also a bit like cocoa. Big smoke.

It’s a really neat take on classic Ardbeg. I do like it, and I’m still happy I grabbed a bottle to try it, but the MSRP was definitely pushing it in terms of value and the larger prices are not a good bang for your buck, but the market is bearing it so it seems that’s going to be the cost of entry here.

Score: 85

Musical Evocation: Alestorm – “Captain Morgan’s Revenge”

Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release

Last year for Ardbeg Day I reviewed all of them through the release for that year, Blaaack. Unfortunately I hadn’t been lucky enough to find the Committee Releases so those reviews were all of the standard 46% release (except the ones that didn’t get two versions). Since then I’ve acquired a couple samples of CR bottles, as well as managed to find a bottle of one, so this year I’m going to review those (with side by side notes with the 46% version), the Committee Release from earlier this year - Arrrrrrrdbeg!, and my Ardbeg Day solera bottle (equal parts of each release from Alligator forward, this year’s review going up through Blaaack with a year marrying in the bottle). Anyway, here’s the review of the CR of Blaaack, a bottle of which was somehow still for sale a couple months ago at MSRP..

Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release, Islay Single Malt, 50.7% ABV

Minutia: Matured for some duration of time in pinot noir casks from New Zealand, bottled in 2020. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Auburn, 1.5.

Nose: Fruit, molasses, dunnage, smoke. Birght and rich notes which flicker away before I can place them. The standard release is a bit mustier and without those fleeting notes.

Taste: Vegetal, oaky, earthy. The standard release is quite the same, though thinner.

Finish: Vegetal, heat. Minty feeling to it. Long. Standard release Is more tannic and lacks that minty feel on the breath.

It’s a step up, but not as large of one as I was hoping. I still like it a good deal, however.

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Type O Negative – "Black No.1 (Little Miss Scare-All)"

Ardbeg Drum Committee Release

Last year for Ardbeg Day I reviewed all of them through the release for that year, Blaaack. Unfortunately I hadn’t been lucky enough to find the Committee Releases so those reviews were all of the standard 46% release (except the ones that didn’t get two versions). Since then I’ve acquired a couple samples of CR bottles, as well as managed to find a bottle of one, so this year I’m going to review those (with side by side notes with the 46% version), the Committee Release from earlier this year - Arrrrrrrdbeg!, and my Ardbeg Day solera bottle (equal parts of each release from Alligator forward, this year’s review going up through Blaaack with a year marrying in the bottle). Anyway, here’s the review of the CR of Drum.

Ardbeg Drum, Islay Single Malt, 52% ABV

Minutia: Matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished in ex-rum casks, bottled in 2018. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Jonquil/ripe corn, 0.4.

Nose: Smoke with a creamy element. Banana. Some tropical fruit (non-specific and vague). Cookie/dough. Standard release is mostly that doughy bit with some tropical fruit tones.

Taste: Banana, piña colada. Slight smoke/woodish. Standard release is mostly creamy banana.

Finish: Oaky, green smoke. Coconut. Medium-long. Standard release is mostly oaky.

A step up from the standard release, for sure, but still a lesser offering among their annual releases.

Score: 83

Musical Evocation: Damien Rice – “Volcano”

Ardbeg Grooves Committee Release

Last year for Ardbeg Day I reviewed all of them through the release for that year, Blaaack. Unfortunately I hadn’t been lucky enough to find the Committee Releases so those reviews were all of the standard 46% release (except the ones that didn’t get two versions). Since then I’ve acquired a couple samples of CR bottles, as well as managed to find a bottle of one, so this year I’m going to review those (with side by side notes with the 46% version), the Committee Release from earlier this year - Arrrrrrrdbeg!, and my Ardbeg Day solera bottle (equal parts of each release from Alligator forward, this year’s review going up through Blaaack with a year marrying in the bottle). Anyway, here’s the review of the CR of Grooves.

Ardbeg Grooves Committee Release, Islay Single Malt, 51.6% ABV

Minutia: Matured mostly in ex-bourbon casks, with some matured in red wine casks which had been toasted giving the inside “grooves”, and bottled in 2018. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Sweet smoke, leather. Strong, rich, earthy smoke. The standard release is less deep by a lot, with the smoke having a ‘brighter’ quality.

Taste: Earthy, vegetal, oaky. Standard release is lighter, with a bit of bright fruit.

Finish: Leathery smoke, spiced wine. Long. The finish on the standard release is similar but mustier, and not as deep.

Really glad I got to try this one. Stands out much more than the standard release I managed to get a bottle of, and makes me hope I come across one of these somehow.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: In the Valley Below – “Hymnal”