Ardbeg Auriverdes

Ardbeg peat up front and throughout with some sweetness towards the end. Delicious. McCormacks Whisky Grill $21 USD per pour

Another Ardbeg, another masterpiece!

Nose: sweet, woody, a bit floral or vanilla, but also smoky and medicinal. Hint of smoked meat, musty Palate: sweet, woody, earthy and woody smoke, well-balanced. Light vanilla, banana and tropical fruit Finish: a pleasant finish, no burn

Aromas of sweetness and vanilla. Smooth smoky flavor going down and then finishing with a hint of fruit. Amazing.

It’s time for a rare, 2014 Feis Ile festival sample from Ardbeg: Auriverdes. This release was designed to honor the 2014 Men’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The colors of the Brazilian flag are green and gold and that’s how this whisky is named. Auri (gold) and verdes (green) also tie-in to the golden color of the whisky and the iconic, green bottle. The only thing done to the whisky itself is that the end caps of the casks were toasted to impart a more charred flavor into the NAS whisky. It’s bottled at 49.9% ABV and is NCF with no added colorant. It’s a deep, golden yellow in the glass with thin, undefined legs and tiny droplets. The nose is primarily smoked brisket, oak spirals and fire pit smoke. The secondary flavors are slightly minty, eucalyptus leaves and some lemon zest that’s traditionally associated with Ardbeg. They aren’t reinventing the wheel with this release at all. The palate is both campfire smoke and earthy peat and there’s a faint sherry sweetness and vanilla note arriving at mid sip. The youthful spirit powers the backend, while being oily and warming. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side and turns dry towards the finish. Speaking of finish, it’s medium length with a very light sweetness and smoke. Earthy minerals linger and turn the final bits a tad bitter and harsh. It doesn’t turn the experience bad, but it also doesn’t help matters either. As a festival release, I was slightly disappointed. There no real experimentation going on here. Bottles have all but disappeared from store shelves and you’ll have to head to an auction site to find one now. Prices have remained steady with this one- $80-100 a bottle should win you one, but I’m not sure it’s worth that price, honestly. Stick with the 10yo or the An Oa for $20-30 less. Thanks to my buddy @Telex, from Maryland, for this sample pour. I have a couple bottles of this, as I’ve put together a few Ardbeg Feis Ile sets, but I see no reason to open them. They are moderately collectible, so that’s how I’ll keep them. 3.5-3.75 stars. Cheers.

Thanks to @Telex for sending over a generous pour of this beauty. This is an Ardbeg from 5 yrs ago, marketed during the FIFA Men’s World Cup in Brazil. Hence the name “Aurivedes”, which means gold and blue. Now what Whisky and the World Cup have in common, who knows? Just a well timed marketing opportunity. With that said, now that I think of it, really pisses me off that not a single distillery bothered marketing anything for the Women’s World Cup...at least would’ve been a good opportunity to have an American craft distillery use Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle or Meghan Rapinoe. Where was the Swedish distillery Smogen showcasing their pride? And the Dutch distillery Millstone leveraging Danielle van de Donk, the amazing midfielder? Anyway...I’m off my soap box and now to the business at hand: This is an Ardbeg. It’s good. Enough said. It’s young, overly expensive, and damn freakin’ good with sweet tar, smoked herring, and lemon zest. But with that said, would I buy this over their 10, Uigi, or Corey? Nope. I firmly believe that with Ardbeg, their core lineup is so damn good that there’s really no reason to fall for their one off marketing gimmicks ( which result in good Whisky, just not better than the core). Leave the annual Ardbeg Day releases to the lunatics that scour the Internet looking for it. Leave the Feis Ile bottlings to the ultra-faithful. The real pot of gold is in their very much affordable, easily available, and amazing core lineup. Thanks @Telex...another good Ardbeg.