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Ardbeg 10 Year Old

Rubber dram

0 783

@JulesReview by @Jules

13th Nov 2013

0

Ardbeg 10 Year Old
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    83

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Well... having found this for £37 (44€) in the UK this weekend I decided to go for it.

I'm not an advanced drammer by any stretch of the imagination, but being a great fan of HP and Lagavulin I thought I'd see what a heavier peated scotch tasted like.

Nose - love it... maritime and oily. Fish? But not quite the silky 'smoked salmon' of the Lagavulin 16...

Palate - wow... I get mostly rubber, iodine and dark unsweetened chocolate. Medium to full bodied... I cannot find any of the vanilla or zesty flavours mentioned by many.

Finish - moss, iodine & more burnt rubber. I find it hard to get past that rubber for some reason! Makes it hard to really enjoy.

For me the finish is far too much about the iodine & burnt rubber than anything else. I just don't get much flavour-complexity out of this.

Maybe it will grow on me, but I just don't like it anywhere near as much as the other peated whiskies I've tried, ie. Lag'16 and Laphr 10/15

I will add water with it next time and see what changes...

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7 comments

@Nock
Nock commented

Care to share the batch number? The very small print on the back of the bottle that beings with an "L"?

11 years ago 0

@Jules
Jules commented

Added a few drops of water last night and it did open up a bit - I found some sweetness and possibly even the vanilla on the palate, so I am liking it more than when I first tasted it. Could it be that it needs a

11 years ago 0

@Jules
Jules commented

...continued from above (pressed 'enter' by mistake)

Could it be that it needs to be 'broken in' after opening the bottle? I found this with some of the other Scotches I've had.

But one problem I encountered after drinking this Ardbeg - all the other peated Whiskies suddenly tasted a tad more bitter than before?? I can almost ONLY taste the peat somehow, even in the HP18...

Has the peat of the 'Beg taken over my palate? I will lay off the drams for two days and hopefully that will cure my 'peat-tongue' !

FYI @ Nock - I will check the batch# for you this evening.

11 years ago 0

@Jules
Jules commented

Nock - batch# L13 213 17 54 6ML

11 years ago 0

@Nock
Nock commented

Wow you got a fresh batch there! Bottled on August 1st of this year. We don't get 'em quite that quickly here in Virginia.

What have you found with the sweet/bitter peat thing? I will agree that Ardbeg can easily be the sweetest of the Big Three. And tasted together Laphroaig and Lagavulin can seem bitter next to it. However, not all Ardbeg batches are equal. Some have a great deal of sour to them. It makes me wonder if the blender is trying to balance out the sweetness . . .

Thanks for the info and the batch number!

11 years ago 0

@Jules
Jules commented

I got this at a hypermarket in England for 59$US, guess it came almost straight from the source...

Have had to increase the score from 78 to 84 after tasting again yesterday - the 10 days of breaking-in since uncorking have done wonders for the balance of this peaty prince! Palate & finish seems far less heavy on the Iodine/peat now, those core elements are now balanced out by a lovely subtle sweetness... vanilla, zest of lemon perhaps too.

I have not yet had a Scotch that improved SO dramatically after letting some air into the bottle !

I still prefer the Lag'16 (only just though), but this is a very satisfying Islay with wonderfull savory/sweet balance Well done Ardbeg.

11 years ago 0

@Jules
Jules commented

UPDATE - this is now a very nice peated Scotch, two weeks of 'breating in the bottle' has made the full flavour profile come to life. There is a sweetness on the palate that balances out the iodine peatiness nicely.

Not hugely complex, but a lovely smoky counterpart to the rich Lagavulin.

11 years ago 0