Ardbeg Kelpie (2017 Committee Release)

Time for a nightcap after a busy day; hustling getting the house ready for Christmas Eve dinner and now grabbing something to ease the remaining hours of this day. Ardbeg CE will assist, which was provided by the one and only @LeeEvolved in the tasting group. Ardbeg! I almost do not have to say much more, but I will. Sweet peat, maritime brine are an instant greeting. The peat smoke is not blasting but very much forward. Lemon shortcake, green olives brine vanilla, honey, toffee, spearmint, charred ham. Always a good nose on those Islay’s. A dark fudge sweetness on the palate on the immediate sip. As you hold and swirl there is a crescendo of Black pepper. In between the rise, a hit of tropical pineapples and/or apricots, then moving on, a blast of citrus orange and lemons, and the a kick of tarry asphalt. All this is a body that is rich and oily. A finish of oak that dries the mouth. Lemon peel, cigar smoke and tar with a final cooling touch of mint sensation. An intense ride. Dips and dives: Smoke, sweet , citrus, pepper. What fun. A deep, soul-warming dram that just works. Balanced well between sweet, spice and peat. A fun journey through this whisky. [90/100][Tasted: 12/23/17]

This is the final extra sample for our third round of scotch samples and I offered this one up because the regular Kelpie was offered by another member of our group. I thought it would make for an interesting side by side comparison- and it did. I reviewed the regular Kelpie a couple weeks back and found it to be an outstanding whisky. This Committee Edition is also spectacular, I just don’t think it warranted a “special-er” special release. The CE comes in closer to cask strength at 51.7% (versus the regular at 46%), is also light, glittery gold in color and forms thicker, quicker legs in the Glencairn. The overall profiles are very similar, as you’d expect, but I don’t think the extra ABV turns it into a better whisky. The nose is heavily smoked with hints of tropical fruits and a masked saltiness. The oak barrel seems a bit more lively, but I think that’s also a result of the higher alcohol level. The ABV burn usually translates to more barrel notes for me. Sometimes it’s a good thing, when it’s needed to mute sweeter drams, but it’s a hindrance in peated malts IMO. I want more smoke, especially on the nose. The palate hits hard. There’s a smoking asphalt flavor that caught me by surprise before releasing into the typical bonfire, charred oak. The citrus and tropical fruit calm it before it transforms mid sip into a delicious, bitter chocolate. It smoothes the rough edges and calms the heat quite well. The finish is long and slowly drying on the tongue. A restrained exhale forces you to deal with the peppery oak and residual smoke. I almost fooled myself into thinking I actually saw smoke exiting my mouth. It’s so present for the entire sample you could easily be fooled into thinking you’re smoking, lol. Overall, I think I preferred the regular Kelpie for reasons I probably can’t even justify haha. Ok, price point is why. The CE was $200 vs the $109 regular. Good enough for me. Both are excellent examples from Ardbeg, worthy of 5 stars, too. Great whiskies. Try one or both because you can’t go wrong either way. Cheers.

This review is for the special committee release of Kelpie from Ardbeg. I believe the only difference is the ABV. This one is bottled at 51.7% vs the standard version that is 46%. Non chill filtered and natural color. Being that it's a higher strength, the color is slightly darker color. This one appears as a champagne gold. I had a much different experience with this one vs the standard version. Let's break things down a little. The nose opens with peaty grilled lemons and apricots. Vanilla cream with what I can only guess is spearmint. Oak and pickled ginger. Black pepper, salty sea air and, as Dreaming of Islay so aptly described, warm salty pretzels. Even though there was no wine maturation at work here, I got subtle white wine notes. Cinnamon dusted nuts and a little toffee/butterscotch. This has a strong resemblance to Machir Bay from Kilchoman, but with more peat. I have to say it took much more concentration and digging to pull out these nosing notes than it did with the standard version. The palate is smoky citrus, lemon custard and peppery oak. Not quite as smoky as the standard version, but there is no doubt that it's there. The standard version was like sitting in the middle of the smoking section at a restaurant (when that was still a thing), where this one is like sitting at the table next to the smoking section (credit to my wife for the analogy). BBQ brisket, brine, tar, ashes and a little iodine. There is also some sourdough bread that was unexpected, and I would say neither a good nor a bad thing. Full bodied mouthfeel that is oily but turns a little dry. The finish is long with peat smoke, citrus, pepper. A little dry but not bad. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just not in the right mindset to fully enjoy this one tonight, but I just didn't find it as good/complex as the 46% version. At $200 per bottle vs $110 for the standard release, its that much harder to get behind. Still it's a good dram. For me, it comes off like an Ardbeg/Kilchoman hybrid. Thanks to Lee for the generous sample. 4.25 Cheers