Perpetuum was the first Ardbeg special release to disappoint me, but this distillery-only version goes some way to redeeming it. Not only is it a higher ABV, but it’s also drawn from a subset of the casks used for the general release. Rich raisins and gasoline mark the nose. In the mouth, there are flavors of figs and cocoa powder. The finish leans towards 100% dark chocolate. Pretty good, but as always with Ardbeg the special releases face a high hurdle to outperforming the core line-up.