This years annual release from Ardbeg is Kelpie. Matured in virgin oak from the shores of the Black Sea. This is the standard release version, not the committee release which I will be reviewing later. Bottled at 46% ABV and non chill filtered. I believe it is also natural color of a pale gold. A full and rich nose. Voluminous peat smoke, but also quite sweet. Lemon cakes and buttery blueberry muffins. The lemon notes are strong here, but sweeter than the 10 year old, which I find on the tart side. Fireplace ashes, creosote and tar. Beautiful. Lots of creamy vanilla, apples, pears and apricots. Salty seaweed, tobacco and leather. Truly a wonderful nose. The Black Sea oak gives this a very different feel than the Corryvreckan, but does not give quite the level of complexity (probably due to the fact that it's at 46% vs the 57.1% of the Corryvreckan). After some time it gets sweeter, like maple syrup. I could nose this all day. The palate is smoky and sweet. Not too intense at 46%, quite smooth really. Huge peat smoke, ashes, seashore. Peppery oak, licorice, lemon cakes. Rich oak, clove and ginger. Vanilla cream and salted caramels and chocolate. Marvelous. A medium to full body, oily but turns dry. The finish is long, smoky and sweet syrup. Dry Simply Ardbeg. Boy do I love Ardbeg! So much flavor. Smoke smoke smoke. Again, not as complex as the great Corryvreckan, but more than the 10 year old delivers. That Black Sea oak really added a nice layer to this one. At around $110 I'd say that it's worth the price. Not perfect but really good. Can't wait to try that committee release. A huge thanks to Pranay who provided this sample. Solid 4.5 Cheers