soonershrink
Ardbeg Corryvreckan
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
June 15, 2023 (edited August 29, 2023)
When choosing an obtainable higher proof Ardbeg, I’ve opted for the Uigeadail a couple times because it seemed like the consensus said it was better than the Corry. But this has been back on my radar ever since @skillerified described it as like dragon’s breath (great description, btw!). Unfortunately, with prices for this now north of $100 I haven’t been a buyer. But I recently happened upon a dusty box marked $82 and pulled the trigger. The laser date shows it was bottled in 2016, which explains the dust.
On the nose, briny smoke, onion soup, smoked kippers, smidge of iodine, lemon and orange peels, vanilla, caramel. The palate does well with a splash of water to tame the heat. Much of the same notes from the nose, along with some coffee grounds and dark chocolate. Maybe a hint of berry. The texture is nice. On the finish sweet wood, pepper, smoke and ash, lingering sweetness.
Ardbeg seems to catch a lot of flak for their gimmicky special releases, but their core range is very solid. Like others, I’d currently rank the Corry slightly below Oogie, but I’m early into this bottle and could imagine my rankings flip flop by the end of it.
82.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@cascode back then, barely paid $40-50 usd. just never got a chance to open them up
@PBMichiganWolverine Uigeadail has also showed a slight dip in character over time, but I don’t think as much as Corryvreckan. Those 2004 and 2006 will be divine 😀
@cascode i have a 2004 and a 2006 Uigi…I’m assuming the same holds for those…just a different quality than present day ones
@PBMichiganWolverine To be honest I don't know, but I remember trying Corryvreckan back when it was first introduced as a core-range bottling and it was huge, chiselled, tarry, chalky and almost bitingly lemon in character. I know that back then it was matured in French barriques but they no longer mention the casking, so maybe it's differnt now. I bought three bottles in 2009 and finished off the last in 2016, then bought a 2016 bottle and noticed it had fallen off a bit. Then in 2018 I bought another and it was way less impressive.
@cascode is it bc cask quality was simply better then ?
@PBMichiganWolverine "and I imagine the 2016 were probably better than the more expensive recent ones ". Without a shadow of a doubt. If you ever see a dusty 2009 or 2010 bottle, buy it.
This has now surpassed Lag16 price in my area. Corry is real good but Ill take Lag 16 all day
@soonershrink and I imagine the 2016 were probably better than the more expensive recent ones
Need to revisit the Oogie. Been way too long for me to make heads or tails of a comparison. Gut says I'd probably lean toward the bacon notes, but my reviews of each (2.5 years apart) say differently.
Price on this has skyrocketed in my area....well seems everything keeps going up every few weeks. Im gonna grab a Lap Quarter cask for revisit as it seems like a great value now with the crazy pricing
Yeah, @Anthology @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington both great whiskies. I’ve been digging the more ex-bourbon cask driven peated scotches lately, but then I’ll have one with more sherry casks and I’ll remember I like them too. I think can’t go wrong with either.
Long time listener, infrequent caller (crappy app update) - the Corry wins me over with the citrus notes (Bruchladdich?) vs the sticky toffee and bacon of Oogie (which reminds me of a proofed up Lag).
Nice find & review! Great dram. I gave the nod to Corry over Uggy but by the tiniest razor thinnest margin. On a different day, I could easily go the other way 🤷🏾♂️