Tastes

Smells absolutely heavenly. Tons of honey sweetness. Beautiful barley honey hit on the tongue, fruity but deep and rich. Textbook scotch taste, well blended and balanced. Barrel comes in on the tail, spicy and powerful. Nothing weird or original, but a quintessential highland single barrel. Wonderful.

Oak and proof on the nose. Getting more alcohol than anything else. Classic single barrel four roses, major hit of caramel fire. Barrel spice, black pepper, tons of abv burn. I like high proof barrel strength whiskies but it's a bit much. Well done, but off balance. Blackwell Spirits selection

Same rich fruity aroma with wood, deep and complex. Flavor is the perfected version of the 18, fruit and vanilla dominating, oak and citrus underneath. Apple from before but with orange or lemon. Perfectly rich, long tingling tail from barrel and proof. Wonderful.

Way more wood on the nose than the 12, less fruit. Not the flavor there, explosion of fruit. Much better balance than the 12, flavor can shine more. Sweet fruit, some wood, excellent richness.

Sweet and barley aroma. Very light spice as well. Powerful and rich on the tongue. Lots of fejir, green apple and maybe pear. Pineapple. Hint if sweet was from the sherry. The more I drink the more vanilla comes through. Excellent blend of powerful flavors, but a bit too fiery. Slightly unbalanced. Richness helps, still very good.

Mustiness and earth on the nose, rather than peat. Maybe something citrusy too, something sour. Flavor is much more oily and sweet, one of the less peaty ardbegs but deep and complex. The flavors are so well balanced i can't pick anything out really. Tail drops even lower, meaty and rich. Absolutely fantastic. Only gets better the more i drink. Islays are my favorite and I always rate them highly but this is easily in the top 5 whiskies I've ever tried. Wish I could give it a 6.

Aroma of peat and wood, but green wood. Sappy and pungent. Incredibly juicy, a bit less burn than the others I've tried. Let's the sweet flavors shine, there's that green wood mixed with some fruit. Some sort of berry or maybe pineapple. Spice comes in to carry the tail, these flavors blend perfectly. Mouthwatering.

Smells strongly of marshmallows or some other sort of soft dessert. Pudding or something similar. Richness in the body is similar, but flavor is less peat forward. Light sweetness, carried into the tail. A bit of burn but mostly sweet vanilla and maybe fruit. Marshmallow.

Grassy and floral aroma, some wood but very leafy and green. Flavor is bright for an Ardbeg, still peaty but way less heavy. Grass notes still come though as well. Excellent fruit sweetness, especially headed into the tail. Incredibly juicy. Stonefruit, creamy. Even better the second time round .

Strong peat aroma, but light overall. Clear but not overpowering. Peat and sweetness on the tongue, spicy smoke with vanilla and toffee underneath. Tons of fire, blends in with that spice. Cinnamon lingers very clearly on the tail.