The Bottle: This is the classic Ardbeg style that we've all come to at least recognize, if not love. Dark green glass with gold, white and black trim. If you're familiar with single malt whiskies, this one is instantly recognizable and iconic. In the Glass: This is one of the lightest colored whiskies that I've ever seen, even for a natural colored expression (which I am assuming this is, though they do not come right out and say so on the label). The dark green glass is a really smart choice, as it doesn't let an uninformed customer see the actual color of the liquor and influence their opinion of what it must taste like. On the Nose: Have you ever heard a recording of someone's singing voice and come up with an image of what they "must" look like....only to see a picture of them and be 100% wrong? Yeah, this is that. The lightly colored nature of the liquid might have you thinking that this will be an approachable and delicate little flower... This could not be further from the truth. Sweet, seaside smoke laced with kippers and barbequed pork. Where Laphroaig can come off like burning medical supplies(and I can with full authority tell you that this is a good thing), this one is 100% coastal village carnival: salt, confection, smoked meats. It's delightful. Taste: Crikey is this powerful stuff. An immediate arrival of sweetness and smoke that turns salty and finishes with more smoke and cured bacon. This is a really "meaty" whisky, for lack of a better phrase. If sweetness and smoke were characters in a kids book, this whisky would be a chronicle of their visit to the market square as they peruse each of the stalls, hand-in-hand . "Oh look, the butcher!!....Oh look, saltwater taffy!!" There's a balance to this stuff that you don't often find in many whiskies, least of all in one that is (at least) 10 years old. Ardbeg doesn't do very many age statement whiskies, outside of their flagship 10. Most of them are blends across various age statements with a specific end result in mind. I am 100% fine with the idea that all of their older whiskies go this route as long as they can consistently keep making their 10 the way that they do. Affordable, well-crafted and an absolutely joy for the senses.