849.99 was the purchase price, figured that'd be a first. Been a while since I wrote something here, been doing a lot of reviews with mike on top shelf whisky but this needs a formal slow form written review. Nose - When I first came into this it came off fairly closed (this is a neck pour) with a good bit of earthy almost clay and some waxy elements were in play. The fruity lemon lime that I was expecting was nowhere to be found. As it is opening, some of that lemon is coming out but still not boldly. However, when I really stick my nose it and really breath in the whisky, things take a change. Lemon pie and custard comes out. Very nice combination of good sweetness backed almost perfectly with citrus and sour fruits (it's mostly lemon). The whole profile is medicinal with peat never over powering but never leaving things alone. There's light coal smoke, slightly bitter at the finish. I'm not sure ardbeg could have done a 25 year with I presume all bourbon casks and this not have been exactly what we all expected. Perhaps that's a disappointment given our desire for a surprise, but this is what a 25 year ardbeg at 46% was always going to nose like. I would say the intensity is a bit below my expectations. Oh, a bit of twirling and I'm getting keylime pie all of a sudden, wow. That's a yummy new note. Water ever so slightly brings out more citrus notes. Taste - The first thing that really jumps out, there's huge oak in this one. Sweet, smokey, oak really drives the flavors as I swirl it around in my mouth. From there medicinal smoke fills my mouth with menthol notes as well. Finally settling into a nice seasoned bourbon oak cask sweet and oak linger on the tongue. Water didn't really do much. So now to put my head around what this whisky is and what to score it. Maybe some final notes? Or better yet vs the 22 year? The 22's nose is bigger, bolder, stronger, more fruity and a bit less oaky. The 22 is way more lemon, more bitter. The 25 is more silky sweet, more vanilla, more oak, and the finish is more like a french oak with malt ball chocolate notes. I expect the 25 will open up into a masterful whisky and much like I found the 22 a bit soft and light at first, i expect this 25 will really open up with some time and air. For now and for this pour. This is a 4.0. I just read the bottle, wow I used a lot of ardbeg's notes more or less. Pouring a second glass to contemplate this one with it being my first time with it. You know that soap note they mentioned, yeah smoke and char around some soap, it's there. So for me this is a bit more oaky and a bit more bitter with that soap element than I think really suit my profile. But that creamy opening is wonderful. This whisky also just needed to be no less than 48%, it's just too thin. The arrival just desperately needed more, especially with this type of soft creamy flavor up front. The finish is however big enough, bold enough, and it leaves wonderful smoke on it. I suspect if I were to rate it out of 100 for the channel I'd be debating between an 89 and a 90. The finish is that of a 91. The flavor despite flaws is a 90. The nose is a 90-91. The mouth feel is an 87 if I'm being honest that might be high. It's not nearly as oily as the 22 but I recall the 22 being thin for almost a year and it's coming alive since. I'm going to come in for now at an 89 and will report back with time. Price? 350 dollar whisky 200 dollar packaging (I legit like the box enough where I think there's something to that number) 300 idiot tater tax? I fully expected the 25 to come off as a 450 dollar whisky so that idiot tax was more than I expected to pay.