Ardbeg Uigeadail
Okay You Win
0 593
Review by @vanPelt
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall93
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I would not have imagined that the smell of smoky, rubbery, sweet rose petals would make my mouth water, so this must be a special mix. It took me a long time to analyze this, because there is something very familiar about it I could not identify, while at the same time it's very full and you could identify a hundred components.
Nose: When warmer and new, very much flames and ash, coupled with tobacco and rubber; a raisiny sweetness makes these industrial scents more palatable. If a little cool, not too smoky and the first impression is as if you could smell a sour cherry ice cream: lightly sweet rose, creamy vanilla, faint but deeper notes of dark chocolate bits... and definitely all overlaid with charred walnuts, to impart a more serious aroma.
Palate: Much of the same from the nose (floral/cherry/vanilla/nut/ash), in a potent and syrupy blend. Additionally, some hotness and acidity, like biting into a crisp red pepper maybe further dipped in tabasco sauce-- and then evolving into a thick and deep mole sauce. It is certainly intense, but never losing its smooth sweetness, and somehow never being too much of any certain theme of flavor.
Finish: Long and rich, with the overtones of tar and ash passing into lingering raisin & clove sweetness, and finally a little tobacco/cigar while you enjoy nutmeg sprinkled on mocha cappuccino.
This is obviously exemplary, and I mostly applaud it for being able to provide such complexity across a large flavor spectrum while avoiding bitterness or other extremities. Although different in tone, I can best contrast it with the Bowmore 15-Darkest, another peated sherry malt. In comparison, the Uigeadail does manage to come out smoother: with less toffee sweetness but more vanilla creaminess and walnut musk; with more apparent flames but less woody cedar bitterness. And the Uigeadail leaves me feeling I can find more subtleties the next days after.... It must be all those vowels.
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Wow, did you review all these Ardbegs on one night? ;)
Gotta have this one... sooner rather than later!