Ardbeg Grooves (2018 Committee Release)

Wooo doggies!!!! Another great dram from my favorite distillery. Yes, I am a fanboy, but the praise I give Mickey Heads is more than well deserved. I can smell the peat and smoke across the room. The nose also brings in more beach-like maritime notes with a boatload of grilled strawberries, raspberries and watermelons. Those also come in on the palate, along with sweet Cincinatti/Kansas City styled barbecue pulled pork. Think of if Balvenie was able to get some savory notes into their Caribbean Cask 14 offering. The long finish reminds me of juicy fruit gum, shells by the sea shore, and deep charcoal. 4.75, and the only reason I didn't give it a 5 is because I wish it was just a little more savory in balance. All of these tropical notes make me think the theme of the dram should have some reggae influences. "Walking on the Moon" by The Police is a great one.

I had a pour of this last night, courtesy from my finance gal during our end of Q1 portfolio review. How is it that the market went up, but she managed to keep my portfolio below indices? Just for that, she should’ve bought me the entire bottle. But anyway, I digress. This is simply put—-amazing. It’s just dirty filthy, as if you took a dive into a pile of soot. If you like smoke and peat, this makes the Ardbeg 10 seem like a peck on the cheek compared to a full fledge French kiss with plenty of hand action. The nose is sexy filthy, like a big bucket of tar and soot. Topped with a layer of salt. Taste is just as dirty. Soot and bonfires. Bitter sweetness comes in much later, I guess as part of the mandatory requirement from the wine finishing. Kids, this isn’t for the faint of heart. My finance gal had a sip from mine, and almost gagged. She needed it to wash it down with her white wine. Her exact words were “ Jesus, it’s like licking a burnt piece of wood, then having a sweet cherry”. The only thing even more enticing she possibly could’ve even said is “congrats, your portfolio did a 500% return this quarter’”.