ScotchingHard
Ardbeg 10 Year
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
November 28, 2017 (edited October 21, 2024)
PRICE: $40-60 and widely available
INFO: Single malt scotch from Islay, bottled at 46%, matured 10 years in ex-bourbon casks.
NOSE: 86/100. Lighter than previous years. Less menacing than Laphroiag 10 or Lagavulin 16. If you are new to peaty whiskies, and want to know what Islay is about, dive in here. Menthol cigarettes, campfire embers, initially. After breathing a few minutes, a bourbon-y sweatness starts to emerge, but never comes to rising above the smoke. With water, you get some spiciness. Cloves, and even fresh cayenne.
PALATE: 95/100. I’m always surprised how oily this dram is. You don’t expect that with the nose. Oil and spent coal. Brine. A little bit of salted prawns. Becomes minty and a sweeter as you chew. Nice transition. I can’t really pinpoint what the sweetness tastes like because the smoke is always dominant and present. It’s a beautiful thing; just complex enough to capture the imagination, but also straightforward enough to be an everyday sipper.
FINISH: 94/100. Ash. And a faint sweetness continues to build after you swallow. The oiliness becomes like a butteriness. I’m imagining burnt corn on the cob, lemon peels, and seawater. I sense the slightest amount of carbonation (although it’s not; whiskies are not carbonated!).
OVERALL: This is probably the sweet spot for the well-known peat monsters of Islay. Laphroiag 10 is a little too weird to just drink at any given time. Lagavulin 16 is a little too pricey and heavy. I can’t imaging wanting one before sunset. This Ardbeg 10? Anytime. Anywhere. I’m down.
MARK: 92/100.
VALUE FOR MONEY: One of the best VFM purchases for the serious scotch drinker, and has been for decades. With the declining quality of Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, this may be the best bang for the buck in the entire Ardbeg lineup currently.
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Great Review! I picked up a bottle of this last night and it came with a free 50ml Uigeadail. Can't wait to open and review!
@Doppelganger and that explains why sherry finished whisky from 70s and 80s taste so much better than their equivalents today
@cascode @ScotchingHard. Not that I have references to cite, but I'm guessing that the sherry used to season those casks isn't ever meant to be drank. It's probably repurposed for cooking or thrown away. So, it's probably not lack of casks as much as trying to reduce costs and not using the best casks
I don’t think it’s your palate, unless it’s mine as well. Both still awesome malts, but not as awesome as a few years ago. I blame lack of casks in the industry. We must all drink much more sherry!
@dshore Uigeadail and, espiecially, Corryvreckan is taking on this chalky talc quality that was not present even 3 years ago. I dunno, mayble it's them, mayble it's my increasingly picky pallate.
@ScotchingHard - great review! What do you mean when you say uigeadail and corryvrecken are declining in quality?
@ScotchingHard - great review! What do you mean when you say uigeadail and corryvrecken are declining in quality?
@Cascode: Only if the shrimp are not scooped from the worm tubs of Glen Elgin distillery. :)
@cascode umami is the word!
@ScotchingHard Yep, I see what you mean - that umami flavour of dried shrimp.
This thread should be closed, since there is nothing more that can be added. Great review!
Great review, ‘Hard! I wholeheartedly agree with this one being the anywhere, anytime peated whisky. When you sit down and think about that aspect it really speaks volumes. Cheers.
The little dried ones
Good review - when you say "salted prawns" do you mean prawns boiled in brine and fresh from the trawler, or the little dried prawns you use for cooking or as a snack??
The definition of a solid scotch right here