Ardbeg Appreciation! Ardbeg Blind Jack Rose Tasting
Background
The Ardbeg Masters of Smoke Tour rolled through DC this past weekend, comprising a full blind tasting at Jack Rose of past special releases. I’ll be entirely honest that I’ve had a few Ardbeg offerings before, but mostly in passing and I’ve never sat down to formally review any. Therefore, I opted not to guess which offering was which in the blind tasting! But, all of the notes and rankings were done without knowing what I was drinking, excepting the Spectacular which was poured at the end. I’ll review them in the exact order of the blind and then reveal which number is which at the bottom. Included in the tasting, in case you want to guess along with my notes, were:
Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg! (Not pictured)
Ardbeg Spectacular (Not blinded)
Ardbeg Supernova 2014
Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 2008
Ardbeg Hypernova
Ardbeg Perpetuum
Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release
Whisky 1
Nose: Hints of ash beneath a brighter, fruitier aroma. Orange oils and cinnamon red hot candies.
Palate: Rock candy, pineapple upside down cake but the pineapples are lightly toasted (that’s a joint note thanks to my tasting compatriot). Lemon pepper seasoning continues the pops of citrus.
Finish: Mike's Hot Honey, leather and black pepper. Some lingering sweetness but ultimately it's a finish that provides a nice counter to the sweeter palate.
Excellent (8/10)
Overall: Off to a hot start! A great entry point for the tasting given its approachability. There's a rich palate and a light viscosity that provides a fun texture to the sip. The finish has a fun heat to close things out.
Whisky 2
Nose: Cinnamon sugar, tropical fruit- specifically mango. Vivacious and gently spicy amongst a bit of fruit.
Palate: Cinnamon raisin bread with a spread of heavily salted butter. Citrus throughout as well, although delicate.
Finish: I'm still getting that cinnamon note ever present throughout the sip. A bit of pipe tobacco, black licorice and toffee.
Great (7/10)
Overall: Again, a really delicious whisky. I personally pick up a pretty steady drumbeat of cinnamon based flavors. It also has a trademark Islay salinity, and the occasional swashbuckling tropical and citrus notes.
Whisky 3
Nose: Buttered popcorn left too long in the microwave. Unripe bananas give the nose a bit of a tropical note. There’s also a day after, burnt out campfire sensation. Here be smoke.
Palate: Oily, smoked, flaky, perfectly cooked fish. Grilled lemon and a buttery texture. That burnt buttered popcorn nose really carries over.
Finish: Sea salt lingers as if Salt Bae spread over the entire meal that was the nose and the palate. It's medicinal at the end, iodine-esque.
Very Good to Great (6.5/10)
Overall: Top notch nose, great palate, and the finish leaves me a touch cold. The medicinal nature at the end overpowers the delicious buttery umami of the palate. I expected to love this from the nose and palate, it just gets a touch too medicinal at the end for me.
Whisky 4
Nose: Concord grape jam on fresh toast. Burnt toffee, a bit ashy. Cocoa and prunes.
Palate: A bit dense and closed off honestly! Toffee pudding and dry dark chocolate. The boujee kind of chocolate that feels a bit like doing homework when you eat it.
Finish: Flambeed cherries but I'm eating them while actively lit. Mexican hot chocolate, cigar ash. Leather. It's a little dry.
Very Good (6/10)
Overall: At the time of the blind, I found this to be a little too dry, which is surprising because I suspect tasting it blind there’s a cask finish at play and I normally love a mix of peat and sweet. To spoil the blind a bit, I would later find out the exact cask at play is a red wine cask. I historically do not love red wine casks, though most of my experience with them is in American Whiskey. But my gripes with them tend to involve a dryness they impart in the base spirit, and I’m sort of kicking myself that I did not guess that was the cask at play during the blind tasting.
Whisky 5
Nose: Lemon pound cake (borrowed from our host), a hot toddy made with tea that's stewed slightly too long, giving it that toasty note.
Palate: Oh yeah that frosting note from the pound cake comes through. You light a lemon peel over a cocktail. The smoke comes through more as if the pound cake is a bit overcooked.
Finish: Rock candy again, lemon cough drops, some lingering ash and medicinal influence. It has that throat coating you get from a cough drop.
Excellent (8/10)
Overall: I love this. It's so bright and citrus driven. It pops out of the glass on the nose, and there's still a fun buttery texture on the palate. The finish does not let you down, lingering long and coating the palate with a citrus herbal essence.
Whisky 6
Nose: Kettle corn, and then some big time vegetal notes. Like fresh, homegrown garden veggies chopped up.
Palate: Oh that’s a mouth punch. Grilled shellfish, diced and smoked piquillo peppers. A lot of heat and smoke here lead to a rather overwhelming experience.
Finish: That same vegetable pepper note, joined with some black pepper and grilled clams, complete with a squeeze of lemon.
Sub-par to Good (4.5/10)
Overall: I’ll be honest, I did not particularly enjoy this. This is a whisky that presented to me as virtually devoid of sweetness. As the owner of a fairly robust sweet tooth… no thanks. I do appreciate the uniqueness of it, I am not sure I’ve had anything with quite this flavor profile, but I don’t think I need to have it again.
And the blind reveal is…
Whisky 1 = Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 2008
Whisky 2 = Ardbeg Perpetuum
Whisky 3 = Ardbeg Hypernova
Whisky 4 = Ardbeg Blaaack Committee Release
Whisky 5 = Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg!
Whisky 6 = Ardbeg Supernova 2014
Last but not least for this novel of a review, let’s get to Ardbeg Spectacular!
Ardbeg Spectacular (NAS, 46%)
Nose: Orchard fruit- crisp apples. A bit of fruit salad honestly. Grapefruit mixed in with fresh cut apples.
Palate: Orange oils again, I'm actually getting notes from two main camps. One is a big citrus note, and the other is a fair bit of German chocolate cake.
Finish: A good bit of ash, plums and dark chocolate. Drying and earthy, grapefruit again.
Very Good (6/10)
Overall: A quite nice whisky that does not totally floor me. I love the german chocolate notes I'm getting but don't love how drying it is to finish. According to the Ardbeg team on site for the tasting, about 65% of this blend is first or 2nd fill ex bourbon, and the remaining 35% is ruby port pipe. I would take this review with a decent grain of salt, as I’d be curious to retry it not on the heels of six other offerings at higher proof points.
