So, I had quite a few excellent choices when it came time to decide what whisky I would review for my 300th entry on Distiller. We had several 5 star drams last month prior to Whiskyfest that I still need to officially review, but I decided I wanted to do something new to me. Thanks to my friend Jason, from Maryland, I had a pour of this fantastic Ardbeg: Ardbog. This bottle was the Feis Isle festival release from 2013 and is a blend of several casks that spent 10 years in Manzanilla sherry casks. The color is deep copper and it makes some seriously wide legs in the Glencairn. The story written around the box tell tales of what ancient artifacts and treasures have been unearthed while farming for peat around Islay: bronze swords, silver and copper coins, ancient crustacean fossils and even dinosaur bones. It’s a cool, dedicated homage to the peat bogs all over the island. The nose starts off with your typical Ardbeg smoke and campfire notes. Then the sherry casks make their presence known and flood the glass with berry and orchard fruits and sea spray. The nose is perfectly balanced between the two. The palate continues the same onslaught: smoked BBQ and bacon, salty air with a deep hit of sherry wine and vanilla oak. It’s all silky smooth, but I think the cask sweetness takes over just a tad too much. I want that meaty smoke from Ardbeg to stay in the forefront, but the cask actually pushes it to the background. It’s still fantastic, I just want the smoke to lead and the sherry to follow- this is just reversed here. The finish is medium-to-long, warm and smoky while remaining butter smooth. It’ll linger as long as you let it and that really put a smile on my face. Overall, it’s nearly perfect. I just wish the roles were reversed to fit my wheelhouse, but there’s no reason to think this isn’t a 4.5 star dram. Luckily, I found a bottle of this at a store while walking the streets of DC last month with @Telex and @Generously_Paul. It’s very rare now, so I’m glad I have a bottle to put away. If you see this one out there- do not hesitate to buy it. Great stuff. Cheers.