Glengoolie Blue 2022 (Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle)

Well, last year I posted a review of this as it was then, and people really seemed to enjoy it, so I figure I’ll keep doing it. Everything’s the same as last year except 50ml of Scorch was added and left to marry for a year. Next year, Ardcore will have been marrying with this for a year and so on.

Ardbeg Day Solera Bottle, Glengoolie Blue 2022, Islay Single Malt, 48.5% ABV

Minutia: A vatting of approximately 50ml of every Ardbeg Day release from Alligator through Scorch, with about a year in the bottle. ABV is calculated based on the components and their respective ABVs. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep copper; 1.0.

Nose: Smoke, dark red fruit, molasses, feinty, chocolate berry goop candies.

Taste: Oaky, earthy. A touch of fruity must.

Finish: Woody, smoky, coffee.

Nice, looks like the Scorch really lifted this up. Mostly in the nose as now I find a really pleasant, rich fruitiness that generally I find from things like Sherried Ardbeg or Laphroaig, even Longrow. It’s bleeding a bit into the palate, but most of the change was on the nose. The finish also improved, with a rather pleasant overall bitter feel.

Score: 85

Bunnahabhain 6 2013 SMWS 10.HBR “A horcrux in fiendfyre”

Since I did the 10 sister cask reviews, I thought it would be fun to throw about a dram’s worth of each into a bottle, let it sit for a bit, and review it as a single malt of 10 casks.

Bunnahabhain 6, 2013 Vintage, Scotch Malt Whisky Society 10.HBR, Islay Single Malt, ~60% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on Octover 17, 2013 and matured in the variety of casks mentioned in reviews #241-250 for 6 or 7 years, blended together by me, and I put it in the Heavily Peated flavor profile and named it “A horcrux in fiendfyre”. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep copper; 1.0.

Nose: Dough, spice, char, must. Slight fruit.

Taste: Hot, woody, honey.

Finish: Charred meat, salt, burnt nuts. Long.

This worked out better than expected, but not as well as I’d hoped. Despite being all peated Bunnahabhain, there were times where I felt “This is like quintessential ___.” That blank was filled in with Laphroaig, Lagavulin, and Ardbeg at separate times. I’ve not yet decided if I’ll drink it now and again, or let it sit a while longer, or maybe use it as the base for a solera bottle, but I’ll be happy enough with any of those realities.

Score: 80

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”