Food & Drink

Review: Ardbeg Twenty-Something 22 Years Old (2018)

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Lots of people could not realize it, what with their fixed stream of special releases and a faithful Committee of adoring followers, however Islay’s Ardbeg Distillery virtually closed up store within the Nineteen Nineties. The operation had fallen on onerous instances and was run for years solely sparingly by its earlier homeowners till the Glenmorangie Firm acquired them in 1997. In 2016, modernized and restored to its former glory, the distillery launched the Twenty One thing sequence of 20+ 12 months outdated particular version single malts pulled from a few of the final shares to have been distilled throughout the dangerous outdated days. The primary, a 21-year-old, arrived in 2016, adopted by a 23-year-old expression in 2017. We bought our arms on a wee dram of the third and most up-to-date providing, a 22-year-old made out there for buy solely to Ardbeg Committee members within the fall of 2018. This expression was aged completely in ex-bourbon casks after being distilled on the outdated Ardbeg nonetheless, which is at the moment a garden decoration within the courtyard of the now sleeker and extra fashionable distillery. In response to former Ardbeg distillery supervisor Mickey Heads, “This bottle is a powerful reminder as to why Ardbeg ought to by no means be allowed to vanish.”

It will have undoubtedly been a tragedy if this explicit Ardbeg had vanished.

The aroma is deep and sultry, perfumed with that traditional Ardbeg coastal smoke, solely dialed up with extra camphor, candy baking spice, and fruits. Ripe peaches and grilled pineapple add a vibrant sweetness that fantastically enhances subtler floral notes of lavender and honeysuckle. The palate is silky with the well-tempered smoke of a forgotten campfire on the seashore. A little bit of lavender reemerges, together with a savory dimension of candy glazed ham and a little bit of wood-driven spice. It’s gently warming from the outset and continues right into a lingering end spiced with a little bit of clove and cinnamon and comfortable, ashy peat smoke. There are glimmers of this whisky within the Traigh Bhan, Ardbeg’s oldest providing off its present stills, however whether or not the distillery can produce one other “twenty-something” single malt with this sort of stability and complexity, solely time will inform.

92.8 proof.

A / $600 / ardbeg.com [BUY IT NOW FROM DRIZLY]

Ardbeg Twenty-One thing 22 Years Previous (2018)

$600

Ranking


9.5/10

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