Jeff – 83

Love it or hate it, you must love peat to enjoy this dram or need to seek professional help. A ferociously powerful dram with a medicinal phenols finish. They say scotch is an acquire taste, then you have to acquire a new one for Ardbeg.

Glen – 82

When I think peat, Ardbeg is always the first dram that comes to mind. Although peat dominates all their drams, Ardbeg still has a nice drinkable character. The ten year old has a nice fresh peat smoky nose with notes of malt and iodine. Clearly the nose is the best part of the dram. The body is thick and warming while the finish is overwhelmingly peaty. The dram does linger although the finish is medium to short in length.

Nose: Fresh peat, malt, smoke, iodine and fruit
Body: Thick
Finish: Medium length, dominated by peat, lingering

Calling all peat freaks…

Brett–83

This one has a nose that’s much fruitier than the 10 year old (though that’s not saying much), with melons, oranges, fresh ivy, fruit scones, charred oak, and of course smoke and peat. A medium-bodied malt, the peat really rears its head, with an intensity that makes me feel like I’m cutting it myself. Uigeadail is also verrrry smoky in the finish, with hints of wet earth, iodine, and a spicy/sweetness that we found appealing.

Glen – 86

As with most Ardbeg's, this ones all in the nose. Fresh and clean with notes of orange, ash and coastal brine. Oh yes, and of coarse peat, but it's not over done. I simply love the nose of this dram, one of the best. The finish is dominated by big roaring peat which tends to unbalance the dram a wee bit. Otherwise, a very nice Ardbeg.

Nose: Fresh, peat, oranges, oak char, ash and coastal brine
Body: Medium, mouth coating
Finish: Roaring big peat, long and dry, had a hard candy sweetness that came through at the very end

I could NOSE this one all day long.

Brett – 88

A beautiful, complex nose. A juxtaposition of descriptions went flying around the testing table with this one: meadow freshness, mint, seashore, smoke, fishing nets, menthol, chocolate mints, a perfumed sweetness. Somehow, though, everything complemented each other. Like most Ardbegs, “the Beastie” was medium-bodied, but unlike most, the finish was a little short, though warming. The finish was nicely balanced; still peaty, less smoky, with baked apples and more mint. Well done.

Glen – 89

This one is my favorite Ardbeg in the current distillery range. Again, a great nose but the dram is much more balanced. This is all peat but done very well. The peat warps itself around you instead of punching you in the face. Less smoke and more sweetness come through. Very complex and enjoyable. A BIG, BIG peaty whisky.

Nose: Fresh and clean, peat, smoke, menthol, deep-pulls you in, chocolate, sweet, coastal brine
Body: Medium
Finish: Big peat and fiery, burning, medium length, perfumed sweetness

A thinking man’s Ardbeg.   . 

Brett – 94

Glen – 93

We were fortunate enough to sample Ardbeg’s new Double Barrel collection that retails for the low low sum of only $20,000. The collection includes two hand made bottles of single cask 1974 Ardbeg, a Purdey guncase, six Silver Hamilton and Inches silver cups and a wooden pen. The case and cups are cool but the real question is, how’s the whisky? Well it didn’t disappoint but I did disagree with my fellow tasters on which one was the best. I preferred Cask #3145, which I found to be very subtle and elegant. Much different then the BIG peat character of many Ardbeg drams. Very well balanced and exceptionally smooth.

Nose: Subtle and elegant, peat smoke, honey, brine, very fresh and clean
Body: Light and flavorful
Finish: Medium length and subtle, peat, very smooth and gentle, flavorful

A very gentle and elegant Ardbeg. I loved it. 

Jeff –98

Glen has lost his marbles on this one, I almost paid the 20,000 for the two bottles because I enjoyed them so much. I thought this whisky had it all: nose, taste, balance, peat, finish all working together with one common goal, whisky bliss.

Glen – 88

This one was the crowd favorite (excluding me). Hey not that it wasn’t great but I preferred the smooth elegance of cask #3145. This dram came off much spicier, incredibly well balanced and enjoyable. Had a fresh clean nose that you could loose yourself in. Not quite the experience I was promised but an exceptional dram nonetheless.

Nose: Fresh and clean, peat, subtle smoke, nutmeg and allspice
Body: Medium and spicy
Finish: Medium length, cloves, peat, malt

Well put together.