Tastes

A very pleasent inexpensive rye. Medium-full body with flavors of vanilla, a subtle fruity sweetness, and slightly hot spicy finish. Not too complex, but perfectly serviceable both neat or mixed.

Powerful stuff here. Very pleasent nose once it opens up a little. Classic Ardbeg peat with a hint of vanilla. Flavor is big and robust. Peat, smoke, spice, seaweed, vanilla, iodine. A little hot without a few drops of water and some time to breath, but this is yet another beautiful offering from Ardbeg. You really need to spend a little time with this one to get to know it. Highly recommended for any fan or Ardbeg.

I tried to like this. I just find it to be awful. Notes of honey, citrus, and a slight drying tobacco on the finish. a little hot on the palate with a thin body. The citrus notes are over the top bright. Like drinking scotch with a splash of lemon pledge. I'm going to struggle to finish this.

I can't help but feel like people are a little hard on this one. It's not a rich or robust cotch, but I find it to be flavorful enough to be enjoyable, and completly inoffensive. I think I actually prefer this over the Black Label. I can get a half gallon of Red for $38, or a fifth of Black for $36. If I'm going to pay Black money, I might as well shuck out a few more dollars for a good single malt. Black just tastes like buyers remorse to me. But for a serviceable daily slugger, I've been hard pressed to find anything in the price range that I like better than Red Label.

Not a bad bottle, not a great bottle. It's perfectly serviceable for the scotch beginner and the expert. Nice balance of sweet and peat. If you need something decent on a budget, this does the trick.

Huge notes of sweet honey, vanilla, and a peaty smoke finish. Absolutely wonderful bottle.