Ardbeg Wee Beastie

This savory scotch is a very light straw yellow color with thin semi-watery legs. I’d describe this nose as spunky; young perhaps, but having good character. There are notes of tar, slight acidity, iodine, sea salt, peaty smoke, graham crackers, burnt marshmallows, and nougat from a candy bar. The palate is savory with notes of my wife’s salted dried seaweed snacks, an earthiness, leather, mint, and Fruit Gushers candy. The finish is long with a taste of thick char and smoke.

Very Smokey, not for everybody. Wood flavor everywhere.

Less smoky and more sweet than I would have expected, this is a very impressive demonstration that young whisky can be extremely drinkable. It’s not as complex or as seductive as the 10 — one sip is pretty much the same as another — but it’s a unique twiddle of the Ardbeg flavor profile dials that should appeal to people who want the smoke turned down a notch and the sweetness amped up. It’s leagues better than the An Ao and will make a passable stand-in for the 10, which will in shorter supply until at least 2024 because of poorly timed production cuts following its acquisition by LVMH. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for the generous sample.

This is the best bang for your buck smokey scotch. Buy it now. I’d buy this over most other expressions.

This is pretty unruly...I like it! Smoky, dark fruit, minerals and a lot of brine. It’s gonna knock you around a bit, but I like that in an Islay.