Kommentar: Toller erster Eindruck, noch eindeutiger als das Standard-Destillat, reif wirkend. Hier ist Jod, starke süße Rußigkeit, Torf und Kaffee stehen sofort im Raum, Fischräucherofen, Wildleder, Tabak, Moos, Kampfer-Sauna-Aufguss, Trafobrand, H0-Schienenöl, Kreide, Vanille und Schokolade, dafür kaum die Aloe-Note und Eukalyptus (ich nehme dies anders wahr als die offizielle Verkostungsnotiz). Genau meine Baustelle, keine Schärfen und doch so komplex und würzig. Im Mund wird er tatsächlich mentholischer, dann zündet das Islay-Feuerwerk, das in perfekter Balance zur Süße steht. Erdloch-Lagerfeuer-Kaminkehrer. Aaahh. Kein reines Powerhouse, eher rund und süßlich-rauchig, wie eine gepimpte Barbecue-Sauce. Der Abgang bringt schöne Rauch-Schwefelwolken zum Torfruß, Arbroath Smokie-Planke, abgefeuerte Kanone, Harz und Jod. Man will sofort nachschenken.

Score: 90

The 22 y.o. is from spring 1996 and was matured in Bourbon barrels only. I hope it can stand up to a wonderful Cadenhead Ardbeg with similar stats we recently had. Let’s taste it:

Comment: I had it on three occasions and it presented itself slightly different each time. Overall, it is a soft and sweeter Ardbeg, one for big sips, not too loud, very rounded, a dram for the second helping. Give it time and it will reward you. It brings old as well as new Ardbeg character to the table, a real mix that is not as „beasty“ as usual, more on the fruity side of things. However, it has the classic profile in its DNA, but if you are into pressure on your palate, this isn’t for you. It starts on coal, sweet smoke, vanilla, freshly sawn firs, Mezcal, Granny Smith apples, green tea with bitter elements, tar, kiwi, lemon drop, chalk and white pepper – plus the peat, tar, burnt trafo and iodine. All that is balanced and shy. On the mild palate, leather and apples take center stage, chalk and peat meet fruits. It is complex and tightly woven together, discrete, no powerhouse but one to drink another glass. Maybe it is easy to miss and tired in moments, but I like it for its special character and smooth style.

Score: 89/90

Ardbeg 5 y.o. Scotch Malt Whisky Society SMWS 33.112 ‚Powerful, elegant and atmospheric‘ 20.12.2005 – 2011, 2nd-fill sherry butt, 252 btl., 60,8%

Comment: It doesn’t smell that young, quite a surpise. A rather typical Ardbeg on the mineral, green and farmyardy side again with nice citrus and Granny Smith apple notes. The peat, resin, smoke, burnt tires on hot tar, sulphur, iodine, discrete chalky oak from those refilled sherry casks (that go perfect with Ardbeg i.m.h.o.), mustard seed, chocolate, spinach and jet fuel aromas have some acidity to them. I am also getting sandy pebbles on the beach. Rather complex for such a youngster, not at all an alcohol-driven nose. The palate is a powerhouse, really punchy without being spicy or unpolished, no offnote here! What an Ardbeg! A monster without being rough. Long finish with big iodine, tires and soot! I used to say that Ardbeg takes some time to unfold, but this dram seems to be an exception. Impressive and very South Coast Islay. Water is not necessary but makes it more accessible to some fainter hearted natures.

Score: 90+

Ardbeg 11 y.o. Scotch Malt Whisky Society SMWS 33.115 ‚Man, that’s braw!‘ 31.08.1999 – 09.2011, refill sherry butt, 578 btl., 55,4%

Comment: This is less powerful and dryer than the 5 y.o. contender because the refill sherry cask has done a good  ‚rounding-off the edges-job‘ without being very obvious or sweet (unobtrusive in background) – a rather inactive cask like the one above has been used, but over 100% more time of ageing took place. There are nice white pepper and chili notes, eucalypt, nettles, pu-erh tea, plums, prunes, apples, peat, chalky oak, iodine, aromatic smoke and sulphur. Asian spices and chocolate join in on the palate with sherry traces and green tea – later plums and the peat-sulphur-iodine-combo. If the 112 is the mineral and fresh Riesling from Rheinhessen, this one is your typical Barossa Shiraz (in wine analogy terms speaking). I prefer the Riesling this time.

Score: 89

Men in Chains, Bottle in Chains

After the release of the Ardbeg Day-bottling some weeks ago, Islay’s ultimate malt distillery now fires out a follow-up that celebrates the festivities around Christopher Street Day. This very rare bottling bears a special pink design and was finished in an Appletini-Cask. Spot the resemblance of the Ardbeg chain bottle presenter and the picture above. To get a bottle, you have to join the Ardbeg CSD-Parade (date soon to be released on Ardbeg’s homepage) in outfits according to the occasion. By that, Ardbeg wants to appeal to all men, not only the barbecuers and peat pushers.

Following Black Bowmore: The Pink Ardbeg

…I almost had you there, right? Just kiddin‘, guys! Don’t we all love the hype around one of the world’s finest whiskies, even when it goes a bit overboard? I am so glad I got my old bottles before that craze set in.

Anyway, I could try the new Ardbeg Day Dram (56,7%) with fellow Malt Maniac Keith at Royal Mile Whiskies (thanks!) and must say, very decent again. A quite tropical version from 8, 9 and 12 y.o. Bourbon cask stock which was then married in Sherry casks. It has nice fruits but still clearly is a South Coast Islay – a lot of Bourbon Cask character and the peaty, sulphury, sooty and ‚iodiny‘ joys of Ardbeg meet here, the Sherry influence is discrete. I score it a good 89+ in my books and recommend it, it is almost as good as the fabulous Alligator in my eyes, just in a different way. I am looking forward to try the Galileo (click here to see it) … and to a new Ardbeg in the future that bears a number instead of a name again.

Photo: nasawatch.com

However, I won’t push a wheelbarrow with peat to apply for the purchase of a young bottle, neither will I welcome a ship in a port with its peaty load nor am I becoming a rocketman – I am simply going to taste two exceptional drams from there just as the Gods of Ardbeg wanted it. This is how I obey, that’s my way of creating cult. But thanks for the invitation, guys.

My friend Michael – who deserves knighthood for this – gave me two samples of Ardbeg Single Casks that still mature at the distillery in Sherry Hoggies: a 1975 and a 1998. Something special already. As I own the empty sister, Sherry Cask #4716 bottled for Germany in 2002 (this cask sits in my cellar and was used for an Ardbeg rematuration), this is even more special to me. Let’s taste:

Ardbeg 1975 Refill Sherry Hogshead #4714 (sampled 27.09.2011, 45,3%)

Nose: Wow, what a great start for Ardbeg Day – it has the perfect balance and smell of good old Ardbeg from sherry

Photo: The Wine and Cheese Place

casks with enough power. I love the deep peaty tones, the soot and the iodine along with notes of chalk, sulphur, tires, overheated power transformator, herbs, tealeafs, camphor, cocoa, milk coffee, plums, pepper, oyster, sea air, lemon zest and other citrus components, also only a little wood (dark plank). Close to perfect, I would say.

Palate: Very similar to its nose, but milder, not a powerhouse – it could be a bit heavier for my taste. This also translates into the mouthfeel which also is a bit thin. However, the finish brings a growth of flavours again.

Finish: Now we’re talking! The magic is back, consisting of iodine, soot, sulphur, deep-toned peat, tires and plums. Nothing but great.

Comment: This work in progress should be taken out soon, but it also won’t suffer from becoming a 40 y.o., who knows what is planned with it. Some people say it won’t be bottled at all. Why that is, I don’t know. The old showcase cask? Whatever will happen, I wanna be part of its future .

Score: 93+

Ardbeg 1998 Refill Sherry Hogshead #2722 (sampled 27.09.2011, 53,9%)

Nose: Altogether the same DNA (deep peaty aromas, soot and put-out campfire, dirty tires, lemon zest, camphor), but with the usual hints of post-1997

Photo: The Wine and Cheese Place

elements like aloe vera, agave and other cactus’s juice. I am also getting aromas of Pu-Erh tea and pine resin. The sherry is very discrete but helps in terms of complexity.

Palate: Displays a good balance, this is not a wild beast yet it retains good power of spice and peat and the aromas mentioned. I can taste its potential.

Finish: Mainly on soot, peat, matchstick sulphur and tires but the complete nose appears in the distance after a while. And here it is, late but there: Chocolate and French roast coffee. Aaaaahhhhh.

Comment: This cask is pretty close to the old style, especially in the finish. I am quite convinced that it will come close to the old Ardbeg quality when it is over 20 years old – if they let it sleep.

Photo: The Wine and Cheese Place

With some patience, we will get wonderful old Islay drams like the 1975 from above again. Along with Port Charlotte and Kilchoman, Ardbeg will be stellar when it becomes older. The future is bright. Aside from that I think that inactive refill sherry is just the perfect wood to age Ardbeg for more than 15 years.

Score: 91+

P.S.: In November there will be an Ardbeg Vertical Tasting in Regensburg …

Joke or not - it is cult: The Ardbeg Galileo (Photo: ardbeg-whisky.ch)

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Tomorrow the German chapter of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society will present their new releases for Christmas time. Our friend Ralf Dänzer and I don’t want you to find any bad drams underneath the X-mas tree – that’s why he sent me some samples via the reindeer express yesterday. Blitzen looked kind of hammered, maybe it tried from the Port Charlotte .

As the most-wanted-distillery bottlings sell out quickly, I tasted them right away to give you a notion. Good luck in filling your stockings with these releases. I couldn’t find a bad one yet.

Highland Park 26 y.o. SMWS 4.151, 1984, Refill Sherry Butt, 53%

Comment: Quite spicy in the nose at first, the Sherry is talking loud and clearly,  then it smoothens out with maritime freshness and gets much rounder. Soft smoke, honey, Turkish delight, apples and cider, peaches, Werthers Original toffee, café au lait, nice dark wood and a spicy backbone of white pepper and chili. Nice but incomparable to the amazing palate. It drinks beautifully and is a dream of balance that still has power, the Sherry is well-integrated, heavy and light at the same time. Water makes it creamier and more accessible. Long finish.

Score: 90

Clynelish 25 y.o. SMWS 26.71, 1984 – 2010, Refill Sherry Butt, 57,3%

Comment: Very typical Clynelish (apples, candlewax, tropical fruit, quince, maritime air with a hint of peat smoke and all that jazz) in the nose. A fine balance with the fruit as spearhead hits the palate, also vanilla now. A soft and fruity Clynelish with a medium finish. Water is not necessary but makes it a bit more spicy and interesting.

Score: 89

Laphroaig 20 y.o. SMWS 29.97, 10.1990 – 2011, Refill Sherry Butt, 608 btl., 59,1%

Comment: Tyrolian bacon and a red Passito, that’s what I would call it. Rooty peat, camphor, herbs, juniper, Stilton cheese, sulphur, dirty machine oil, and other unusual notes for a Laphroaig. The Sherry really changed the spirit to a great extent – into a profile not everybody likes (lost identity, lots of personality). The palate also is Sherry- and sulphur-dominated, gunpowder, roots, camphor, blue cheese again, not bad but different. It reminds me a bit of the 1974 Singatory Sherry bottling, but without the old Laphroaig characterstics. Really hard to judge…some will love this, some might call it flawed. I would have liked more Laphroaig in my glass but enjoyed the dram anyway.

Score 90+

Ardbeg 12 y.o. SMWS 33.97, 09.10.1997, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 55,5%

Comment: Recent Ardbegs from the Society were convincing and this is not an exception. It is a textbook example of an Ardbeg of that particular time, a really well-balanced one again. More old than new style in the nose but on the palate you discover, among typical Ardbeg characteristics, the newer notes of eucalypt, methol and cactus that came into the distillate after 1996 in general. Green Ardbeg so to speak – with a great finish.

Score: 90+

Caol Ila 10y.o. SMWS 53.147, 11.1999, Refill Bourbon Hogshead, 66,6%

Comment: Very intense and herbal, big Islay power, flints, but it needs some drops of water to be tamed. No offnotes, simply great Caol Ila with depth. I recommend this for anyone who loves young South Coasters that do their job well.

Score: 91-

Port Charlotte 7 y.o. SMWS 127.11, 8.2003 – 2011, Refill Sherry Butt, 67,1%

Comment: Smells a bit like one of those PCs out of a Sherry Bloodtub, broodingly intense on rooty peat, camphor, herbs, tar, ox tail soup and Sherry. Blue cheese, dried flowers, moss, toffee, pepper and coffee complete the bouquet. You might not believe this, but it is drinkable at 67,1% without needing water. Anyway, it can swim too. The power on the mid-palate and the endless finish are ridiculous. Another stunner PC – how excellent will these monsters be with more maturity?

Score: 91+

These two drams received a lot of attention recently. The Old Pulteney 21 y.o. was named ‚World’s Greatest Whisky 2012‘ by Jim Murray with 97.5 points in his annual release Whisky Bible, a choice many people joked about, and the Ardbeg 1991 – 2011 Malts of Scotland for Hotel Bero from an extremely dark Sherry Cask 11003, 48,8%, started fiercly held debates in several forums because a) of its color and b) you can only get a bottle if you stay over night at Hotel Bero in Belgium (well, at least no other duties like kissing Geert Bero’s ugly cousin or dancing in lingerie on a pole were involved there, so what is all the fuss about?

Slainte Math, Geert!

It’s a real cool place to stay with great cuisine, you Ardbeg nuts! By the way: excellent marketing, Geert! I like this creation of hype).

Let’s take a look behind the chitter-chatter and only judge quality:

Old Pulteney OB 21 y.o., 46%

Nose: Very balanced, an allrounder. Smoked peaches (does that exist?), maritime freshness, white

pepper, a lot of vanilla, honey, ripe pears and intense apple compote. It is much less farmyardy than earlier versions, this bottling is clean and fruity-sweet like a first-fill Bourbon-Cask Glenmorangie. Later I am getting milk coffee, whiffs of leather and even more tropical fruits in the sweet malkt. Maybe a tad too nice – like an A+ student.

Palate: Dry at first with dried flowers and heather. Woodier and more gristy (just as I remembered it) than the nose suggested, but overall very fruity and tropically sweet (white oak madness) like above.

Finish: Very long, malty, gristy and sweet. Echoes of the fruit and vanilla and big Bourbon Cask influence again.

Score: 90

Comment: This whisky has become more mainstream. Every note is clean, upfront and present, Bourbon Casks are doing the fruity trick, but spices are missing a bit. This Pulteney is more on the oaky side in general. Where have the stable notes gone? Good whisky, but not the world’s best whisky in this year for me. However, I have no problem with Jim Murray’s decision – taste is individual, in this case VERY individual. Congrats to the producers and thanks to Lucas for the quick shipment of the sample.

Ardbeg 20 y.o. Malts of Scotland for Hotel Bero (Commemorating 90 Years and Four Generations), 2.1991 – 10.2011, Sherry Cask 11003, 240 btl., 48,4%

Nose: As deep as the colour. Burnt woodsticks in a bonfire, roots and herbs (camphor) like in a Port Charlotte, new tires, dark fruits, orange zests and figs, cola nut, tarry rope, pine resin, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, leather, coffee beans, beef jerky, forest honey, traces of sulphur and iodine, lit Cuban cigar, pepper and mustard seed. All that jazz is well-integrated and still maritimely fresh.

Palate: Liquid ashes,chalk and earthy roots at first, then it displays old medicinical Ardbeg notes, which is extremely good news. Hello beetroot! Resin! Herbs! As dirty and mossy as the Very Old Ardbeg or some 1967s plus my beloved model train trafo burn aroma. Round, not disjointed at all. Wow.

Finish: Extremely long and flinty (gunpowder). Sulphur, ash, peat and iodine in a great combo, tobacco, cocoa powder, pine needles and resin smoke. Just perfectly balanced between bitter and sweet, wonderfully dirty – like clothes and skin after a night at the bonfire.

Score: 91+

Comment: Awesome cask choice – and I find it extremely heartwarming that such old-style Ardbegs can still be found (with hints to Port Charlotte). I just wish I knew where! Anybody selling?

Photo: L. Langer (link) - Thanks! His shop is worth a visit!

It was a hard day, so I need a bit of a treat. Mmmmh, let’s go for Islay power, an Ardbeg. But a special one: How about a bottling from the good old days, complex, but bottled at young age…the choices get narrower – maybe even at cask strength … and sherried … extremely hard to find. As I go through my samples I suddenly hold this nice specimen in my hand:

Ardbeg 13 y.o. Gordon & Macphail for Intertrade, 26 June 1975 – 13 July 1988, 543 btl., 75cl, 54,2%

This might save my day. I remember it as very powerful and pleasantly sulphury – in its very own style. As I am pouring the reddish-ambered liquid there is an astonishing viscosity visible. The aroma quicky fills the room, wow, the peaty cavalry comes through. Let’s see if it turns out well (the day and the Ardbeg) …

Nose: Close to perfection, I could smell this forever. Islay freshness at first. The elegance of Sherry traces (dark fruits, dark European oak) meets the raw peat-iodine-sulphur-combo (gunpowder-cavalry again), but all that in great complexity and depth, not only on primary in-your-face notes. Whatever you look for in an Islay Whisky is there! And more: fine tobacco, high-end chocolate, pepper and spice and roasted coffee as well, but nothing is disjointed or bitter – all aromas blow into the same horn, so to speak. OBF (Old bottle flavour)  rounds off this killer.

Palate: Oh my God. It is as good as I feared it to be. Full on, but also elegant and round – this malt builds a bridge between these opposites. Maybe it is the ‚in-between-age‘. All is there again with a slightly dry entry. Flints, peat, sulphur, iodine, gunpowder, Sherry, dark fruit, spicy chocolate, tires, malt, Culatello ham and fine wood build a tower on the mid-palate. No water!

Finish: Let’s play ’spot the weakness‘. It might not have the longest and most sustaining of all finishes, but it still is quite long and really impressive. It is a simplified copy of the nose that comes in waves like at the Southern coast of its natural mother. Jolly good.

Score: 94-

Comment: Great great Ardbeg, and I love the medium-age effect in this one. It has made my day! Thank God it was a 4cl-sample: 2 cl left for me to savour without taking stupid notes .

Auchentoshan 11 y.o. / 1999 SMWS 5.29, 60,6%

Kommentar:
Apfel und Birne, Holzkohle, Heu und Trockenblumen, grünes Malz, Vanille; im Geschmack recht scharf, auch viel Wasser hilft da nicht.

Bewertung: 77

Glenmorangie 18 y.o. / 1992 SMWS 125.39, 55,7%

Kommentar:
Voll, süß, tropisch reif, sehr deutliches Bourbon Cask, dezenter Rauch, Vanille, Toffee, Nelke, Pfirsich; im Geschmack ein Grenzgang zwischen reifem Single Malt und Bourbon, aber man muss schon ein Bourbon-Freak sein, in dieser Richtung extrem: dennoch klasse.

Bewertung: 90

Mortlach 20 y.o. / 1989 SMWS 76.75, first-fill Sherry, 58,8%

Kommentar:
Überraschend maritim und rau, recht torfig für einen Mortlach, Leder, Pflaumen und Datteln, Spur Schwefel; die Rosinen treten im Geschmack wieder in den Vordergrund, dennoch eine gelungene Abwechslung zu den sonstigen eindimensionalen Rosinenbombern, dazu gute Würze, Moos.

Bewertung: 88

Bowmore 16 y.o. / 1994 SMWS 3.169, Refill Sherry Butt, 56,6%

Kommentar:
Bowmore auf dem Bauernhof: starke Noten von Heu und Mist, Harnsäure, Torf, Schwefel, dazu Zitronen-Aromen und Cappuccino – was für ein wilder Mix! Im Geschmack kommen Noten einer Dampflok auf, Jod, Trafobrand, Farn, Schwefel, viel deutlicher Islay als Bowmore früher war. Was für Leute, die klare Islay-Power mögen, die klassische Bowmore-Mitte mit Balance fehlt hier.

Bewertung: 89

Ardbeg 8 y.o. / 2001 SMWS 33.92, 57,5%

Kommentar:
Ardbeg, wie ich ihn mag: sehr klassisch im Stil, keine Offnote, richtig gelungen. Tipp!

Bewertung: 90

Aultmore 28 y.o. / 1982 SMWS 73.39, Refill Sherry Butt, 55,4%

Kommentar:
Obstig, reif, braucht Wasser zur Öffnung; Pfirsich; Geschmacklich sehr ausgewogen und reif, komplexe Frucht und feine Bourbon-Weißeiche, florale Noten, Vanille. Tipp!

Bewertung: 90

Glen Moray 10 y.o. / 2000 SMWS 35.48, 59,3%

Kommentar:
Apfel, Birne, Rauch, Vanille, Passionsfrucht, Brennnessel, Bärlauch und weitere Anteile an Kräuterlikör (jedoch erst nach Wasserzugabe); im Geschmack tropische Frucht in schwermütigem Charakter (Dose), Eiche und Vanille.

Bewertung: 89

Linkwood 27 y.o. / 1982 SMWS 39.78, 55,1%

Kommentar:
Heu, Rauch, Holundersirup, Beeren, Heidehonig, viel Komplexität, die im Geschmack mit voller Kraft auftritt: wow! Beeren und Frucht ohne zu viel Holzeinfluss bringen den Trinker in Verzückung. Tipp!

Bewertung: 91

Benrinnes 13 y.o. / 1996 SMWS 36.51, 61,9%

Kommentar:
Kräuter, heimisches Obst, Mandarine und deren Schale, Kondensmilch, Spur Kaffee, Honig; Im Geschmack dominiert das trockene Milieu mit Heu und Trockenblumen, Lakritz und Vanille – ein typischer Speysider.

Bewertung: 87

Port Charlotte 6 y.o / 2003 SMWS 127.6, 65,2%

Kommentar:
Es übermannt einen sofort der typische Kräuter-Torf-Jod-Mix dieses Destillats. Auch Kreide, Pflaume und Zitronensäure sind riechbar. Im Geschmack setzen sich der moosige Torf, Schwefel und Jod durch, im Hintergrund verweilen Sattelfett, Wurzeln und Cola. Trotz der Fassstärke keine Verdünnung notwendig. Tipp!

Bewertung: 92

Brora 30 y.o. OB 1979 – 2009, 2652 btl., 53,2%

Nose: A bit aggressive at first, a peaty heat comes from the glass (chili, black and white  pepper), green apples, peaches, lemons, medicinical iodine, leather, maritime freshness, vanilla, herbs and weeds, candlewax, sugared egg-cream (dessert).

Palate: Peatier and deeper in character than the nose suggested, no water needed; The fruits manage to hold on to the spicy ride. Wonderful fight between the peat-, the spice- and the fruit-related combo!

Finish: Peat, iodine, green apples, bandaid, slightly sulphury, chalk. Very long.

Score: 91+

Comment: Another great Brora, that seems slightly Clynelish in character, but with more peat and spice. Thanks to Flo for the sample.

Ardbeg 29 y.o., 1967 – 1996, Sherry Cask 923, 52%

A Legend: Ardbeg 1967 Kingsbury (thanks for photo to M. Höflmaier)

Nose: Dark not only in colour, I get mahogani wood, Sherry of the finest kind, peat, pepper, moss, roots, herbs (catnip, lemon balm verbena, even chamomile!), forest honey, dark fruits of all kind, old tires, Culatello ham, dark chocolate and nougat, espresso, tobacco, Vermouth, Pu Erh-tea, a dusty wooden boathouse at the seaside on a hot summer day. Really unusual.

Palate: Utterly complex, like a mix of 1970 Ardbeg, Port Charlotte and a dash of Black Bowmore, with the notes from above, but fruitier, also wet plank. It displays a real pleasant taste of its own. Don’t let water come close within a mile

Finish: Long, satisfying, peaty, sulphury (my beloved children’s gun sulphur), dark fruits (plums!), nougat honey, fir resin and what not. Goes on forever.

Score: 94-

Comment: Rather unusual Ardbeg (but there IS distillery character, don’t get me wrong), but high class and very original. I like it, but it is not my favourite expression of the distillery. I also loved the 1972, 1973 and 1974 Kingsbury Ardbegs, esp. the 1974 was exactly my style!

Ardbeg 29 y.o., 1967 – 1996, Sherry Cask 922, 54,6%

Score: 94

Comment: I had this one in Limburg „live“ with some friends at the Dutch Connection stand, so no full notes, sorry. It deserved the same score but it had more Sherry influence (making it fruitier – even with some berries – and nuttier)  and less honey, as I think back. It also seemed slightly more approachable and elegant (so 94 without the „-„, but both bottlings are unique and legendary! Try them if you can.

The Bottling

Originally presented as limited Committee Release, this Ardbeg has been matured or finished in heavily-charred American white oak barrels. The spirit inside both versions is identical. The name ‚Alligator‘ stems from the maximum toasting level of casks (4), at which the wood looks like the skin of a crocodile (comparable to a log in a burnt-down bonfire). Wine- and spirit producers use differently toasted casks because they render a different kind of taste in the final result after maturation.

Although it doesn’t matter in terms of rating, I have to compliment the bottle designers. The box of the „untamed“ release has a feel and look of an Alligator’s skin and the croc-theme is carried through all the way from the logo to the tasting note and the descriptions. Well done! Let’s see if the whisky can keep up with its outfit.

Do these jaws have teeth?

Nose: Well-balanced and less peaty than one would expect from an Ardbeg (did the charcoal have a filtering effect like it is used for smoothing out Jack Daniel’s Whisky?) but still a southcoast Islay dram with tar, smoke and guess what: charcoal, burnt resin and smoke. The leading aromas aside from that are big notes of Barbecue sauce and pickled gherkins in dill (a real ‚McRib‘ Sandwich), a honeyish sweetness, green apples and rooty dried herbs. It keeps changing and also delivers cappuccino, lemon zest, cumin, pepper and pine.

Palate:  Now it really departs from usual Ardbegs – it is lighter in style, saltier (brine) and less complex. Tamed Islay character with resin meets the pickled gherkins in dill again, making way for a rather sour character with a little fruit.

Finish: The croc earns my respect here. Aside from the leading aromas, a wonderful mix of peat, iodine and sulphur (children’s gun) plus some chalk and coffee sticks with the drinker for a long time.

Score: 90

Comment: In Germany this Ardbeg was officially presented to the public at a barbecue in Munich. Whoever came up with this idea, kudos! It really fits the taste. This version is different, and therefore, it makes sense inside the Ardbeg range. I liked the multi-faceted aroma and the nice finish without the cactus and eucalypt that bothered me at some newer bottlings. Not very complex, but dangerously drinkable. Snappy!

Mortlach SMWS 76.78 ‚Foamy bananas dipped in cayenne pepper‘, 15 y.o., July 1995, first fill Sherry Butt, 625 bottles, 55,8%

Nose: Quite alcoholic at first, then a nice mix unfolds – rum-raisins and vanilla ice cream, a touch of Marsala wine, chili and black pepper add to a slight woody spiciness, dry but not overwhelming Sherry-influence, buttered toast, apples and peaches. One can already smell that this dram needs water.

Palate: Surprisingly elegant with some water (necessary): Apples pave the way to a medium-sweet and creamy mouthfeel with maltiness and smoke.

Finish: Rum-Raisins with Marsala and Sherry are counterbalanced by nice warm oaky notes.

Score: 89

Comment: Much more complex than many other mono-dimensional raisin drams by Mortlach of that time.

Bowmore SMWS 3.175 ‚On the dunes – watching a puffer‘, 16 y.o., April 1994, refill Sherry Butt, 572 bottles, 56%

Nose: Like many great Bowmores, the nose is perfectly balanced between Islay roughness and the complexity this distillery brings to the table. The Sherry is well-integrated and fits the combo. Leafy ferns (typical for Bowmore once) and herbs, fresh sea spray and ozone, Chesterfield couch in mahogani room, remotely lemony and exotic fruitiness, sweet cherries as well,humidor and Asian spices.

Palate: Drinkable with or without water; stays high class all the way through, all notes above woven together. The Sherry adds such a wonderful  and discrete sweet dimension with many tertiary aromas.

Finish: Waving the Bowmore flag proudly. A noble dram with a nice hint of sulphur like from old fired children’s guns (red stripe) at carnival.

Score: 91

Comment: A must-have at a reasonable price!

Ardbeg SMWS 33.96 ‚Chocolate Caviar‘, August 1996, refill Sherry Butt, 668 bottles, 56,9%

Nose: A powerhouse of a nose: Clearly Ardbeg! The infernal trio of peat, sulphur and iodine is accompanied by burnt tires, a bit of resin, leather, white pepper, celp, lemon and orange zests, espresso, milk chocolate and chalk – plus the well integrated Sherry tones (plum cake) from the Refill Butt.

Palate: No water needed; The taste is the one of older Ardbeg before the takeover in 1997. Not as complex as the nose suggested

Finish:  A harmonic finish with iodine, chocolate, peat and sulphur.

Score: 90

Comment: Really good Ardbeg, but doesn’t fully live up to its nose.

Port Charlotte SMWS 127.7 ‚A sense of elemental freedom‘, 7 y.o., August 2003, refill Sherry Butt, 687 bottles, 66,6%

Nose: Another monster of a nose – deep rooty peat and herbal notes, beef jerky, Maggi, Sherry, pine branches in a beach fire with resinous smoke, oil and tar, black pepper, Sicilian-style- roasted coffee beans, touch of Jägermeister – all rather raw and untamed.

Palate: At 66.6% this is diabolic and becomes better with water, but one can sip it pure as well. Really smoky and dry with a slight herbal bitterness and the aromas of the nose.

Finish: Stays untamed and true to itself. An outdoor barbecue dram that takes no prisoners.

Score: 87

Comment: One has to like it raw, I would love to try this mustang in its older and more mature days…

Since the Scotch Malt Whisky Society has been taken over, I was in the lucky position to try most of their releases. Our partner Ralf Dänzer (www.smws-süd.de) does a wonderful job in selecting and promoting the whiskies. In general, they are above average, and some are top class. Make sure you are fast to get hold of a bottle. The SMWS lowered the member fees a lot. I really recommend to become a member nowadays. It is worth it. Another recommendation: Ralf offers samples of recent bottlings to try before you buy!

If you are interested in previous reviews (German), click here:

http://www.smws-süd.de/downloads/201104smwsverkostungfruehlingsliste.pdf

In this series, I would like to review some recent bottlings (only the first one in German, tomorrow, the ratings will be in English). My highlight of the ‚Summer Series“ was an Ardbeg (and I am not a comlete nut for post-1997-Ardbegs), a real stunner:

Ardbeg SMWS 33.93 ‚Tarry peppermint tea‘ 10 y.o., 8.1998 – 6.2011, Refill Sherry Butt, 626 bottles, 55,9%

More reviews in English all the way from tomorrow on…

same outfit, but 33.93

Nose:

Mächtig Gummireifen, Torf und Jod beim ersten Riechen; dahinter Kräuter, Pfeffer, gegerbtes Leder, Holzkohle, Harz, Teer, Moor, Zitronenschale, Salzlake, Nelken, ein Hauch Schwefel  und Spuren der ab 1997 auftretenden ätherischen Minze. Wahrlich komplex!

Geschmack:

Trotz großer Kraft recht ausgewogen, obige Aromen und Pfefferminzteenoten erscheinen in dichter Verbindung, ohne jede Offnote. Ein klasse Ardbeg!

Abgang:

Lang, jodig-torfig, wärmend wie Holzkohleglut, die dezente Sherrynote ist hier deutlicher, sie verbindet die vielen obigen Elemente optimal im Abgang; gegen

Ende setzt sich eine herrliche Knallpistolenschwefelnote durch: einer der Besten seit der Glenmorangie-Übernahme, genau mein Ding!

Punkte: 92/100

Summary: A real iodine-sulphur-peat-beast that reminds me of earlier bottlings. Very well balanced yet powerful. We put this one into our line-up of the Regensburger Whisky Walk 2011 because it rocked our world!

Der erste Regensburger Whisky-Walk ist unsere 23. Verkostung feinster Single Malts und Spirits. Klickt auf den folgenden Link, um die Einladung einzusehen.

Slowdrink-Einladung (23. Whiskytasting Regensburg)

Meldet Euch zum Newsletter an, um die Einladungen regelmäßig zu bekommen. Dann seid Ihr beim nächsten Mal bestimmt nicht zu spät dran: Mail an info@slowdrink.de mit dem Titel „Newsletter“ genügt.