Ardbeg Smoketrails Manzanilla Edition

Forest fire

A nose so powerful, octomore esc. Thick dense earthy bacon, and roasted pig. But the. It desapears on the palate. But comes back with a vapor or smoke and slight spice and earth.

Nose - briny, meaty, chemicalish, thick and reminds of a typical islay style. Tongue - sweet and savory, a surprise hit of smoke and a lasting smoke finish. It fits its namesake. Finish us short though. A very different experience.

Another season, and it’s time for Ardbeg to release something no one asked for, and have it priced absurdly high. Probably released with all the might of marketing pomp and pagentry, enough to give Prince Charles envy of his own pomp and pagentry towards being a paper king. And it turns out that all that hoopla amounts to a disappointing subpar Ardbeg, leaving you to wonder “ I can’t believe I paid all that for this! Should’ve stuck with Corry, 10, or Uigi. That in a nutshell is Ardbeg. Until this one. Thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking , I got to try this one. We had our quarterly online tasting ( we as in @pkingmartin , @ctbeck11 , and @Richard-ModernDrinking ), and this was one of the pours generously shared by Richard. I generally don’t like Manzanilla. I find it too dry. And I don’t think I’ve ever liked any whiskey finished in manzanilla. But, this was different. Yes, you get the classic Ardbeg smoke on the nose, but the palette is where it shines. Oily, ashy, Resiling wine. It’s a complex pour…salinity, brine, like seaweed salad, with a dose of olives and lemons. Finally! An Ardbeg release without pomp and pagentry, and actually really well made! Unfortunately, this is travel only. So, to buy this, you have to be at an international airport. But if you’re there, pick it up. I paid £70 for this on a recent trip to London. You can’t beat that value for a good Ardbeg. Thanks to Richard again for the pour!