Tastes

One of the few whiskys that lived up to the hype for me. It drinks more like an 18 year old than a 10 year old, thanks to the pineapple and tropical fruit notes. Jam packed full of flavour, with a finish that lingers forever. It's almost perfect.

Avoid at all costs.

Nowhere near as good as last years batch. Thin, one dimensional, short finish.

Like drinking a glass of water with a teaspoon of water added to it. Thin and flavourless.

Desert in a glass. Like a light and fluffy lemon merengue. Easily my all time favourite whisky.

This is the smokiest Ardbeg I've tried. It can be a bit too much sometimes, but it's balanced with a nice sweetness from the PX casks. A few drops of water tones down the smoky BBQ casks, and intensifies the PX influence. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and is the best limited release from Ardbeg for quite some time, in my opinion.

I think I prefer the standard Lagavulin 16. The PX cask finish seems to strip away more than it adds. A lot of the tropical fruit and confectionery sugar I find in the 16 is muted. It's still a very nice dram, but the low ABV holds it back. A little thin with a fairly short finish.