Ardbeg Drum

Might as well be pure banana.

After having a mediocre Ardbeg Blasda, i went the whole other way and had a dram that i don't know why i didn't had high hopes before tasting it. This Ardbeg Drum is an amazing Ardbeg, super appealing and if it were a core range expression i truly believe it will be taken off the shelves in a matter of minutes. Ardbeg drum is one of those limited editions of this distillery, which yearly releases something new (most likely NAS), highly collectible and 70% of the time is controversial over its quality. An ex-bourbon cask matured, finished in ex-rum barrels, this whisky is trying to give you a caribbean feeling... and they fully achieve this goal. Bottled at 46%abv, white wine color. On the nose, a perfect piña colada. Starts with your Ardbeg peat and Hay. Brownies. Some sweet red frutiness rising and stinky peat. Vanilla and Pineapple; It is powerful for a 46%abv. After 3 minutes it became crazy good. Smells exactly as a piña colada cocktail. Sugar syrup, Condensed milk. After 5 minutes it changed into a very grapy, cherries and sweet aroma. After a first sip, it gave me AMAZING COCONUT. at last that aroma note that everyone seems to perceive and that i never identify properly, here it is so cleam and accurate. Incredibly aromatic, with coconut, vanilla and peat. On the palate it is super appealing; Coconut, Pineapple, Then mild peatiness And Salt. Oliy, Fruity, tropical. A second sip was sweeter, sugar syrup, pineapple smoothie. Gooseberries. Condensed milk. It has a spicy finish. It is like a small ball of ginger, wasabi, pepper and salt that as time passes it grows bigger in your throat. It is spicy rather than peaty, salty rather than earthy. It is a medium long nice aftertaste. Overall, this was a memorable dram, a whisky i want to own and share with friends. It is the easiest Ardbeg to drink without losing its DNA or power, and that is the key for its success. Complex enough, peaty enough, sweet enough, fruity enough. Very well crafted, my score for it is 96 over 100 and i believe i am stealing some points here. Sláinte!