Ardbeg Corryvreckan

Ardbeg doesn’t really need an introduction, so I’ll save myself the trouble. This Ardbeg Corryvreckan (NAS) has a beautiful gold color with a green sheen and a great viscosity. I am sampling the standard bottling from 2009, nog the Committee version.

The Corryvreckan is named after the world’s second largest whirlpool, north of the island of Islay. It has matured on French winecasks.

This one has a typical Ardbeg nose: powerful sweet peat, bitter orange marmalade, lime and even passion fruit in perfect balance with seaweed, oysters and smoke ham. The more patience you show, the more the sweet scents come out. But it is always in motion, making this a very interesting and complex nose.

Even when taking a careful sip, you’ll get a kick in the teeth from this aggressive dram. It starts of sweet, but soon pepper and smoke join in. Adding a little water won’t hurt. It pronounces the sweeter side of the whisky. This is truly a whirlpool of flavours. Liquorice, smoked ham, chocolade, seaweed, up and down, back and forth. And a pinch of seasalt to finish it off. Amazingly complex and invigorating.

The finish is long and warming and honors the nose once more: the sweat peat and seaweed come back for an encore.

This would make a perfect winter dram and is by far the best Ardbeg I’ve tasted so far!

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