Ardbeg Dark Cove

This is just a quick review after one glass this evening. Note that this is the general release, not the much higher ABV committee release.

I found this to be milder than the Uigeadail, but similar in trajectory. That is, opening with sweet (this time a pronounced and pleasing ex-bourbon sweetness) passing through a lovely middle of subdued sherry and peat, and eventually fading away with complex drying and spice. Lots of complexity, nuance and balance to keep a whisky lover happy. I don't find it matching the marketing at all. There is nothing "dark" here. Just a beautiful, complex and well balanced dram in the popular Ardbeg style, but this time much easier than we're used to because of the lower ABV. I much prefer it over the new makey and one dimensional Perpetuum. It is sweeter and more complex and satisfying than the Auriverdes, which I am otherwise pretty fond of. With a higher ABV I would have scored it higher. Otherwise, a winner. Sweet, complex and delicious.

Yes, I know. A million bloggers have already written about this one and I'm super late to the party. I have an excuse, though. I've been sick for a while and, frankly, quite busy with putting together my documentary Every Dram Drunk.

I'm calling it a documentary but, as my friend rather sarcastically pointed out, it's actually just a pathetic attempt on my part to validate yet another boys trip. I can't help but fear she's right but, hey, you know what they say. Opinions are like butt cracks. Everyone has one.

Anyway, the whisky at hand.

Now Ardbeg have started doing this thing where they create two versions of the same whisky to release during the Feis. A Committee bottle and a Festival bottle. They did it last year for the first time with the Perpetuum and now this year with the Dark Cove. Usually the Committee bottle has a stronger ABV compared to the Festival release. While the Perpetuum had a 2% difference in ABV this years' release has a whopping 8.5% difference!

The Committee release is bottled at a punchy 55% and the Festival release at a mere 46.5%

I wish I could understand the logic of it. I mean if the whisky is meant to be tasted at 55% let it be. Don't go about watering it down to create more stock. Look, the Festival release is pretty darn decent by any stretch of the imagination but the Committee at 55% is a completely different animal.

And that's what was sitting in front of me my first day on Islay.

After warming up our palates with the tasty Lagavulin 8 we ordered this one while sat at the Old Port Bar at the quaint Port Askaig Hotel.

There's not a lot of literature on this one and even at the distillery everyone was quite vague. All they kept saying was this one has a lot of dark sherry in it. Apparently it's a rare kind of sherry from Spain. But that's all I know. Anyway.

My sample is from an open bottle and served at, as I mentioned earlier, 55%

Bam! Big big nose. Reminded me why I was in love with Ardbeg for the longest time. Touch mossy at first but then relaxes into a smoky haze. Wet barn. Wheat biscuits. Bung cloth. Cracking peat. Black fruits. Lots of toffee. Red peppers. Cinnamon. All-spice. Rather sweet on the nose. Love this bold approach. The peat and the dark sherry, whatever the hell that is, works beautifully together.

The true test of a whisky is on the palate and this is where this one comes through in spades. The 55% is the right strength for this spirit. Massive flavours. Solid oak. Cinnamon. Quite oily. Salty. Dark chocolate. Wait, bitter chocolate. Almonds. Toasted wood. Sticky toffee pudding. Liquorice. Dark fruits. This is unapologetic. Love it.

My hastily written notes say So I'm going to have to go with that. Mad spice. Caramel. Smoke.

Beautiful whisky this. While the Festival is nice in it's own right the Committee is the one to beat. Reaffirms my faith in this distillery to produce knockout flavours. This one also marked the start of a memorable boys trip to the Festival and, thus, has a special place in my heart.

The Dark Cove is the long awaited and seriously hyped new Ardbeg Day 2016 release. We are talking the general release here, not the Committee Release at 55% with the pale label. It was sold through the Ardbeg Embassies on Saturday 28th May and – as is always the case with these types of releases – was sold out in a matter of hours. The label boldly states ‘dark sherry casks’ and ‘darkest Ardbeg ever’. I am not sure that that means. Oloroso? PX? Darkest ever? I have seen Ardbeg twice this dark. I hope the contents of the bottle is better than the PR bullshit.

Well, the nose is very pleasant. Vanilla and tar, soy sprouts (that’s a first!), walnuts and some seaweeds. Something that reminds me of band aids. Not overly medicinal, just a touch. Bicyle tire? I get some liquorice, ginger and nutmeg. If there is any fruit, it is lemon. The smoke development is rather limited, but quite nice. After some five minutes, I get something really sweet. Caramelized peel of blood oranges. Could that be the sherry?

It starts rather salty with loads of ashes and oak (ginger!), before it allows the sweetness to reveal itself. But the sweetness is not offered much room, for it turns very salty again immediately. Some smoked ham with a drop of lime juice and Seville oranges. The peat is unmistakable, but far from playing first fiddle. Loads of tannins, though.

In the long finish, it is mostly the spices that speak, but at the death I get a sudden eruption of plasticine and rubber.

All-in all, this Dark Cove is a good Ardbeg, but – like its predecessors of the last years – it does not match the classics like Uigeadail, Corryvreckan or the Beist. I would rather spend my money on them. I bought this for 99 EUR, but now easily reaches 150 to 200 EUR on secondary markets. Thanks to Anthony and Imanuel for helping me obtain this bottle.

Sometimes my friend @Nock asks me to help him pick up some new releases of Ardbeg and Laphroaig, because they are usually easier to get where I live than where he lives. I've been a little luke-warm on the special releases of Ardbeg recently, so my enthusiasm was not too high to hustle after the few bottles of Ardbeg Dark Cove which my county is offering for sale. At "one bottle per customer" my wife and I were able to pick up two bottles. I told @Nock he could have one, and I would try the second bottle and decide whether I wanted it or not. I want it. Dark Cove 55% ABV is a keeper. Apparently there is also a 46% ABV version for sale. Which would I prefer to own? Duh!!! I am so happy that our local liquor supply systems are not forced to go that low ABV route

The reviewed bottle was opened yesterday

Colour: urine while dehydrated; Ardbeg makes a big deal of the colour of this whisky on the bottle labels, but really, while this is darker than is most non-coloured Scotch, the whisky is not really very dark. There is really only the faintest hint of red in the colouration. This colour looks about like the colour of the average 4 year old bourbon

Nose: big strong flavours; intense tart dry sherry, and very big peat and smoke flavours. Excellent Ardbeg nose. Is this like a turbo-charged Uigeadail? Yes, it is...which is a very good thing. It is also like a Supernova with sharp sherry. Water added tones the nose down and emphasises the milder elements of the peat. Much more interesting without water. Score: 24.5/25

Taste: Very ashy, which is not an adjective I use for many whiskies; intense flavours; sharp, high-pitched dry sherry; plenty of petrol, salt, seaweed, iodine, and black licorice. Moderate smoke. Lots of rather pleasant bitterness here, with noticeable sourness, and just enough sweetness to keep the total package in very good balance. Water added bundles the flavours and emphasises the peat. Forget the water. Score: 23.5/25

Finish: intense, long, ending on brine, bitter-sour peat, and lots of licorice. Water added mutes the very interesting flavours. Score: 23/25

Balance: excellent in the nose; very good thereafter. A touch less sourness and this would have been 96 point whisky for me. Score: 23/25

Total Sequential Score: 94 points

Strength: very big flavours. Score: 24/25

Quality: all very nice, with a multi-dimensional peat and a tart high-pitched sherry. Score: 23.5

Variety: really a lot of complex flavours are present to choose from. Score: 23.5/25

Harmony: great harmony in the nose; very good harmony thereafter. All I would have preferred would have been a touch less of the sour component. Score: 23/25

Total Non-Sequential Score: 94 points

Comment: yes, I like Ardbeg Dark Cove 55% ABV. If I didn't already own so many bottles of Ardbeg I'd want to own more than one bottle of this one. Dark Cove is much more to my liking than are Auriverdes or Perpetuum. Is Dark Cove 55% ABV like a turbo-charged Uigeadail? Yes. Or a sherried Supernova? Yes. The price of $ 100 here and no doubt much more than that in many other places is getting steep. Still, at $ 100 the quality is really here in spades, and this is a lot less pricey than were the Supernovae. I highly recommend the 55% ABV release of Ardbeg Dark Cove