Ardbeg Kelpie

Scotland, September 2017 (from notes). The tour guide pours me a dram, I nose and ... HANG ON - THIS IS LAPHROAIG ... Oh, no it's not. That's the immediate impression. The most Laphroaig-y Ardbeg ever. Once I got over the oblique association I started to taste this properly, and it's not at all a bad dram. Nose: Very smoky, with the phenolic, tarry, hospital bandage quality that is normally not part of the Ardbeg arsenal of aromas. However their trademark sweetness is also lurking in an array of fruity aromas that slowly start to emerge from the depths (some time in the glass, warming and a drop of water helps this happen). Stewed fruits / tinned fruit salad / grapefruit / pineapple / even some faint cherry and apple danish (!). Palate: Smooth, smoky, nutty, sea wrack and flotsam starting to decompose on a sandy strand with gulls crying overhead. It's a very evocative taste. As it develops it turns spicy with ginger, anise, caraway, cloves and allspice plus some citrus zest. Again, it’s slightly different from its Ardbeg stablemates. Finish: The smokey peat and brine fades out into an interesting salt/sweet/citrus finish, that is satisfyingly long. A class act, and pretty stunning for what is almost certainly a young NAS. My only reservation is the price, which is a bit steep. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)