Ardbeg An Oa

Peaty, kind of meaty. Love it.

Love grapes? Love salt? Love ash trays? Ardbeg An Oa is the whisky for you!

This was the last of Ardbeg's core range that I got to try. The Corry and Ugi are two of my all-time favorites, and you can never go wrong with 10 year. Those are some pretty loft standards, but I'll try to judge this on its own merits since it's very different from those other three on paper. Nose: Sea salt, brine, iodine, band-aid, and heavy peat. Menthol. Tennis ball. Spearmint. Vanilla custard. Key lime pie. Grapefruit. Some black bean red pepper chili. Crispy bacon and turkey sausage. Nice combination of sweet, meat, and peat notes. Very nice nose. Palate: Campfire smoke, peat, sea salt, and iodine. Tennis ball. Grapefruit and lemon. Agave. Milk chocolate and caramel. Vanilla custard. Black bean red pepper chili. Red hot tamales. Finish: Ash, sulfur, and campfire smoke. Black bean red pepper chili. Some of the meaty notes with some sea salt and brine. Grapefruit. Milk and dark chocolate. Bacon. Medium length. Solid. Ardbeg always delivers. This is probably my least favorite of the core range, but the Corry and Ugi outshine just about anything and the 10 probably gets a close nod. The cask combination works beautifully here. New charred oak, PX quality, and first fill Bourbon casks play so well with the heavy peat. It's a respectable 46.6% ABV for $70. It lacks the power and depth of Corry and Ugi or the brash spirit of the 10, but it's worth its salt nonetheless. I said it already but the cask combination and heavy peat provide great synergy and the product is a damn fine dram.

Sooty smoke. Watery, with lots of sweet oaky spice from the sherry (PX). Vanilla and toffee. It’s thin on the mouthfeel, but a fantastic starter dram for an evening. Less of the typical Ardbeg brine on the palate (though decisively on the nose!), but it is a lovely cheaper sherry alternative to the Uigeadail.