Ardbeg Wee Beastie

Nose is spicy red pepper flakes, with black pepper seasoning over a steak from cast iron. Bonfire smoke with just a hint of barrel char. Those nose is a dry smoky peat, and not wet bog. Slightly on the medicinal side of the fence, but more like a campfire in late summer. Part of the heat in the nose is the ABV of 47% but there is a not insignificant portion of that coming from the peppery aromas. Still, considering how high the ABV is there isn't quite as much burn as I would have expected. Or maybe it's just more pleasant than I would have anticipated. The taste is jalapeno and habanero heat in the middle of the tongue. Just a hint of menthol/mint at the swallow. The peat manifests itself as more boggy and muddy at the swallow than it does in the nose. The finish is dry cigar tobacco ash, the finish is not very long but it is very pleasant. It's dry like a bonfire that you just doused water all over. The burn is just this side of being overkill, but I really enjoy it. If you are a peat-head You need to get your hands on some because it's not that expensive.

SMOKE.

Check out my video uncorking review here: https://youtu.be/UaR9CGHd02g .

Nose: burnt bacon, sweet maple syrup, blue cheese, mayonnaise, pine wood, sap, cherry, strawberry, Taste: ham, espresso grounds, dark chocolate, black pepper. Water brings out the maltiness and a minty lagavulin style mid palette. Not as smokey as one would expect from a young islay.

This may be my first first-to-taste on this site! I went to a Glenmorangie event back in January (feels like a lifetime ago, doesn't it?), and they brought along a few Ardbegs to try as under-the-table drams. The standouts of the night were the Traigh Bhan and the 2019 Supernova, but they also had a sample of their upcoming Wee Beastie. I got a small pour, so I don't have highly specific tasting notes, but this was a perfectly pleasurable Ardbeg that felt like almost exactly what it is: a younger, punchier Ardbeg 10. Subtracting five years from the age didn't have a huge negative impact in my recollection, although it amped up the smoke, that Islay medicinal note (reminiscent of a young, 5-year-old peated Bunnahabhain I once picked up in Glasgow), and a wide array of herbaceous or grassy flavors. This bottle presents a very straightforward, classic peated whisky profile, and I think it's fairly priced at around $40-45. I'd slightly prefer Lagavulin 8, a close analogue that in rare instances can be found for under $50.