LeeEvolved
Reviewed
July 28, 2016 (edited January 26, 2020)
I've passed on this scotch several times because I convinced myself I'm "beyond" this entry level from Ardbeg. Sometimes, I'm a dumbass. Excellent smoke and brine makes this a very enjoyable dram. The fact it's on the cheaper side is a bonus. A good BBQ would make this even better.
Updated review 8/14/18:
I just spent some quality time with a newer batch of this standard Ardbeg. This was bottled in 2017 and was presented in the warehouse tin. This is pale yellow with thick, oily legs and light droplets on the rim. It’s bottled at 46% and is non-chill filtered.
The nose is light smoke (at least lighter now that I’m much more experienced in Islay malts, that is). There’s earthy peat here in spades with a nice zesty bite. It’s still a true campfire on the nose.
The palate has a lighter flavor profile than I recall from the earlier tasting. There’s more oak presence- which isn’t a bad thing to break up the smoke and peat monopoly.
The finish is short/medium and oily. There isn’t much heat and it’s still surprisingly mellow for a peated whisky.
Overall, this is still a 4 star classic but this latest batch seems like they turned the volume down from 10 to about an 8. With all the NAS stuff coming out of Ardbeg now it feels like the 10 has become an afterthought at the distillery and the product is starting to get long in the tooth. I’m not sure I’ll buy another bottle of this until I can taste a sample first. It’s losing its edge IMO.