Ardbeg Grooves

Smooth like a Sade song, but still Ardbeg. Quite enjoyable!

very nice, you can almost taste the red wine, way too smooth for an Ardbeg though

The black box is plastered with booming, sunset-colored 1960's-70s psychedelic lettering: a conflation influenced by the era's albums and singles cover art. Witness a synthesis of The Beatles, "Rubber Soul" and The Who's "Magic Bus" blended together with the color scheme of Stevie Wonder's, "Songs in the Key of Life". The bottle, however, is your modern Ardbeg vessel with the design heralding the island's Celtic heritage. But in the middle of the label, is the name of this celebratory expression, "Grooves" in all it's psychedelic glory. Egads, what a gaudy sight. Far from tastefully accommodating the Celtic theme into nominally-psychedelic depictions gotten in Art Nouveau or Art Deco, it looks like some guy vandalized the label with graffiti. This clash of styles isn't sophisticated - it is hideous! And when put next to the eye-watering price tag, it's practically heresy. I decided at that instant, I was going to bottle kill this travesty and learn the secrets to its twisted origins. When I returned home, I separated it from the other Ardbegs in my thralldom, and innocuously hid it behind a bottle of GD 15, where it would await its fate as my next neck pour.. But alas, when the time for tasting had arrived there was no revelation. There was no jigsaw puzzle of contesting aesthetic functions. There was only Ardbeg quality, delivery, and excellence because.... well.. "because it's Ardbeg!" On with the goods. The aromas are of charred wood and smoke, interloping with delightfully sweet and mildly fruity red wine. Further nosings coalesce into a velvety honey- and malt-inflected scotch profile, echoing with peat and sweet notes, blushing into red fruits. This is one of the most appetizing of scotch aromas I know of. The palate is likewise sweet with an almost soy-inflected barbeque note, I'm thinking Korean short ribs. Less of a roughshod, sherry-driven bacon profile than the Uigeadail, this is a bit more refined: beef grilled over charcoal flames, ringed by bulbous glasses of pinot noir or chianti. Still, it's not as sweet as the Uigeadail, nor as viscous. With the lower alcohol proof, it goes without saying there is less of an impact on your senses. So - while this isn't the Ardbeg battle yell of a charging line of tartan-clad warriors - it's also a world away from Haight-Ashbury libations and devil-dandruff-powered disco. This finishes with a drier and spicier profile than the Uigeadail that I contribute to the toasted barrel grooves. The aroma from the emptied glass is pungent with wine-marinated steak and American BBQ sauce. For the sake of research, I followed this tasting with Lagavulin 16, and the Lag was not much more than a smooth, albeit dangerously so, bourbon-cask scotch floating on a cloud of white smoke. The sea spray and brine notes (having been my least favorite parts of the Lag) were a long ago echo. Simply astounding. While I'll most likely not buy, let alone find, another bottle - this is a great scotch done right. It has certainly piqued my interest in the Blaaack and An Oa, while tempering my expectations at the same time. Was it 'Groovy'? Absolutely.... I was waiting for dessert but I'll just give this a score.

This is a very interesting Ardbeg The first sip is all brine and smoke but as you drink more and get deeper into the cup dark fruits pear start to come out and it gets better.

Ardbeg day testing! Ardbeg 10, An Oa and Grooves Let’s start here – All delicious and all worth buying. The An Oa has hints of new oak, and even French oak, with a nice spicy finish. The finish is longer than the 10 and spicier. The palette on the An Oa rolls a bit more and is little less brash and is more balanced. The PX sherry takes the smoke and makes a pleasant whisky. An Oa takes the win over the 10. The Grooves is sweeter, almost a bit of sticky wine finish. The finish is longer than the An Oa and a bit better. Sweet, balanced, lovely finish, a slight advantage over the An Oa. The win versus An Oa depends on your palette. If you like red wine the Grooves wins. If you like bourbon the An Oa wins (I get some virgin oak impacts on the An Oa). Rankings 1. Grooves – due to the longer finish and a bit sweeter than the An Oa, 2 An Oa – better balance than the 10 and much better finish and 3. 10 – solid dram with aggressive smoke that is so easy to like. All so good. I’d I was buying, I would pick An Oa. If if was a gift I would pick Grooves.

Good, a little sweet and some lingering notes after you have swallowed it.