Ardbeg Dark Cove

A generous dram gifted to me at the end of a bottle. Dark fruit and treacle cake on the nose, with definite sherry notes. The smoke is sweet and not at all acrid. Gentle fruit grows with orange, dates, then marmalade and forest fruits. Remarkably smooth. The smoke wisps at the back of the tongue, embers lingering like yesterday’s campfire. Still sweet but with some of that characteristic Islay plasters and TCP.

Smoke. Seaweed. Water mellows the spirit significantly. Fruit emerges. Prunes. Immensely tasty.

Dark, rich, nice

Nose:. It's got a bite to it. Spicy heat surrounding a fruity base. I get a dark chocolate cocoa too. Taste: fruity, more normal scotch than Islay but backbone with a sweeter mellow ardbeg smoke. Reminds me of Auriverdes (sp). I get almost shortbread and chocolate. Not getting any peanut which others notice. Finish: Not particularly long finish which lets me down a bit because what is there is very pleasant.

Long ago, i had the lovely chance to taste the famous Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee Release, which is a popular whisky because some enthuisasts have rated highly. This time i managed to get my hands on the "normal" release, matured in "Dark Sherry Casks" (apparently this is a made up term, i tried to find it but i couldn't) and was bottled at 46.5%abv. This was the special release for Ardbeg's Day 2016. It has a dark caramel color. On the nose, all the lovely horrible aroma notes we peat freaks cherish: a pair of cotton socks, iodine, tennis balls, a shoe box and.... passion fruit?; it smells exactly as a sports shop in a mall. After a couple of sips it gave me hints of chocolate and brownies. Letting it breath for a longer time game a fish market aroma and smoked salmon. Amazing. On the palate it is a mixture of sherry and peat. Plastic notes, earthiness, salt and Red fruot syrup. It has a pleasant pepper bomb. Strawberries are definitively a note here. Aftertaste was the best part. Starts with some burnt hay and cigarrettes, to then turn itself to a bonfire with dangerous fireworks. Gunpowder, and rubber. It is like chewing the head of those "He-Man" action figures from the 1980s. Quite the experience. Overall, this was a memorable dram right from the beggining till the end. The craziness of the peaty notes are well intertwined with the red fruitiness from the sherry casks. A beautiful single malt, my score for it is 93 over 100.

👁👃👅Pale brown in color. Toasted malt, sea side, seaweed, spices, campsite fire and bright on the nose. Detected subtle banana and caramel as underlying notes. Envelopes your nose and palate like after eating sashimi with wasabi.