Here's an interesting experiment, the first new permanent Ardbeg expression in years and years. The result is . . . something that smells and tastes a lot like Ardbeg 10: smoke, peat, hay, citrus, seasalt, gravel, and some faint sherry. It finishes with a really nice coda of peat and malt. The resemblance was so strong that I poured a glass of Ardbeg 10 to compare them head-to-head. An Oa has an oilier nose and is moderately richer on the palate and finish. I’m a little unnerved — the fact that this product is so similar to 10 suggests that Ardbeg may get out of the age statement game altogether and just have An Oa, Uigeadail, and Corryvreckan as their unpronounceable, triple-threat permanent range. Perhaps that's not the worst thing in the world. An Oa is a respectable substitute for 10, albeit a more expensive one, but I'll give it the same rating that I gave the 10. I hope that, if the distillery gets rid of 10, they drop the price of this expression just a little bit to make up for it. But, since Ardbeg presumably is run by capitalists, that is not going to happen. Thanks to Telex for the sample!