Ardbeg 13 Year Chieftain's (Ian Macleod)

Smoke and Sherry? Truly excellent.

This was a free 1 oz sample from Petite Cellars. The truth is, @Richard-ModernDrinking, I don’t have a conclusion for this whisky. Out of the 7 samples I tried that day, this was the one that made me feel that I was just scratching its surface. This is not the whisky that will win a whisky line up. It’s Ardbeg. It’s not friendly. The premium price, ~$165 for a 13 year old independent bottling, is the first jab to the body. The color is pale; but the soul is black. Charred wood. Coal. Embers. Centralia, Pennsylvania. The nose is a second body shot. The arrival on the palate is a hook to the jaw. There is no hickory; there is no barbeque. I am caught off guard how ashen this is in the mouth. Salt, ash, and hatred. With time, this sweetens up, and I get some barley sugar, caramel apple, and citrus. The finish is actually light and fruity. Is it the complexity of an evolving spirit? Or is it just because the masochistic parts of my senses have been saturated? It’s like meeting someone for the first time in the octagon, and getting your ass kicked, and then having him buy you a drink at the bar afterwards. Mixed feelings, yeah? In the end, I decided to leave this bottle alone, due to the price. This may have gotten a lot better, if I got to know the whisky, but Ardbeg 10 and Ardbeg Uigeadail are cheaper, and safer bets. Sample rating: Average +3 (a very good whisky) Star rating: 2.5 / 5 (not worth the price)

This spot reserved for @ScotchingHard who has sampled this but it teasing us by withholding his detailed notes. I’m sure the ER can survive without you for the few minutes it would take you to undertake this important work.