Single Malt Report: Ardbeg Day

And this was right about when I got on the Ardbeg Train. I had experienced better-than-current-era Corryvreckan and Uigeadail about a half year before I attended my first Ardbeg Day event, in 2012, and was totally sold on the Ardbeg brand. At that Ardbeg Day event, the reps revealed the new Ardbeg limited release called......Ardbeg Day. I liked the whisky a lot, but when trying it next to Corry and Oogy, it landed in third place. The special releases were all downhill from there.

Distillery: Ardbeg
Ownership: Glenmorangie Plc (owned by LVMH)
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay
Product: Day
Age: NAS
Maturation: two different vintage (or "styles") first aged in ex-bourbon casks, then married together in ex-Uigeadail casks for 6 months
Limited bottling: 12,000
Bottling year: 2012
Alcohol by Volume: 56.7%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(Thanks to Whisky Brett P. for most of the samples this week!!!)

NEAT
The nose starts with loads of fruit and honey. Apricots and golden raisins. A floral peat (reminiscent of well-aged Longrow), then ocean-salty peat. Soil. Chocolate, dark berries, clay and baklava with honey. The palate holds dried apricots and roses. Very salty peat and smoked pork. Ethyl heat, a nice bitter bite and a slight industrial element. Its big warm finish is fruity sweet, with eucalyptus, salt and mothballs.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose is more herbal and milk chocolatey. Hints of tar and floral peat. Lots of fresh plum and apricot. It gets smokier with time. There's bigger peat on the palate. Dark chocolate with dried raspberries. A mild honey sweetness and a hint of peppery mints leaves. It finishes with dark smoldering peat. Salt, sweet, soot and a great sharp edge.

This is getting fun. A little more water, perhaps?

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The nose keeps getting smokier and smokier. Bye bye fruits. Hello bus exhaust. Big bitter herbal smoke on the palate. Salt, lemons and a tiny bit of sugar. The finish is a little sweeter, with some wood smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Though I regularly tweak Lumsden and his blending teams, I must commend them on their good work here, because this is excellent whisky, a special release that's actually special. It's much fruitier and prettier than the regular range. The palate is straightforward, while the nose is complex. The whisky takes to water very well, gradually becoming more recognizable as modern Ardbeg as it's diluted. It didn't rock my world five years ago because I just wanted nuclear peat back then, and Day's subtlety was wasted on me. Man, I wish I bought a bottle then. I would have appreciated it more now.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - $300-$500, holy craps
Rating - 89

Single Malt Report: Ardbeg Blasda

Yesterday was Ardbegish Serendipity. Today it's Ardbeg Blasda. Both appear, on the surface, to be Ardbeg Lite, less peat, more diluted and filtered.

I don't think Blasda sold particularly well. Though it was released between 2008 and 2010, I remember seeing bottles still selling at their original price in 2012. And it's still pretty easy to find in Europe, though at a premium price. Regarding the peat measurement, I've read two takes: the barley was peated at 8ppm; or the whisky in the bottle is peated at 8ppm. Those are very different things. 8ppm in the bottle isn't that low. As noted by Serge, that might be close to Bowmore's levels.

One final thought. Seven to ten years ago, whisky fans were openly grumpy about Serendipity and Blasda. Why isn't anyone, other than two or three dickish bloggers, publicly taking Dr. Bill to task for his crummy releases now?

This pic is even better than yesterday's.

Distillery: Ardbeg
Ownership: Glenmorangie Plc (owned by LVMH)
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay
Product: Blasda
Age: NAS, natch
Maturation: Whiskybase says sherry hogsheads, but I have a difficult time believing that
Limited bottling: 18,000
Bottling years: 2008-2010
Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Yes
Color added? ???
(Thanks to Whisky Brett P. for most of the samples this week!!!)

Its color is a very light amber. A good sign. It has a peaty perky nose, much brighter and friendlier than regular current-era Ardbeg. Lots of young stuff, like green grass, cinnamon and estery fruits (or is that fruity esters?). White gummi bears, honey and ash. Hints of farm and leather; thus the cow, before and after. The palate leads with vanilla, confectioner's sugar and milk chocolate. Sweet and malty. Lime juice and earthy peat. A good tartness and a slight plastic note. An easy drink that's a bit thin at times. It finishes with a touch of prickly ethyl heat. Vanilla, sugar, grains and lime. Hints of smoke and salt.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Blasda is better than its reputation. I mean it's REALLY young, but it's okay. There's plenty of peat but it's reserved enough so the rest of the spirit's characteristics don't have to fight for scraps. It's a shame this one got trampled on, while a number of lesser special releases (that were sold at higher prices) were celebrated.

There is room in Ardbeg's range for something like the Blasda, though maybe a little stronger and unfiltered. And probably older. I wonder if Lumsden totally gave up on this stuff. Or is he going to have the last laugh next decade when he drops the Blasda 21yo and it's genuinely gorgeous?

Availability - the secondary marketplace, and a few dozen European retailers
Pricing - $140-$240
Rating - 82

Single Malt Report: Serendipity (Ardbeg + Glen Moray) 12 year old Blended Malt

Okay, I have a week full of Ardbeg "special" edition things to review. In order to have the time to complete it all, I'm going to try to keep the posts shorter. That never works.

If you thought Wild Turkey Forgiven was the first of the "Oops, look at what we did. We're so stupid, we shouldn't be responsible for making widely sold commodities. But here, you should buy it for more than our purposely made products" type of whiskies, then you'd be wrong. Back in 2005, Ardbeg released Serendipity, their "Oops, you got your mayonnaise in my peanut butter" whisky.

Apparently they accidentally mixed old Ardbeg (stories range from 17yrs to 24yrs old) with 12 year old Glen Moray. 80% Ardbeg and 20% Glen Moray, is their story. And there was enough Oops for 16,000 bottles. Bottled at 40%abv.

Of course the same company accidentally did something similar with the exact same accidental ratio of 80:20, a few years earlier. Wondering why the hell they'd make Serendipity on purpose and thus dispose of so much old Ardbeg? It's not impossible that Ardbeg had a lot of underproof casks which needed to find a home. At its original price, the full Serendipity release grossed nearly one million dollars. So I'd say those Oops casks found a financially viable residence.

Crap. I said I'd keep it short.

Great picture, bro.

Thing: Serendipity
Company: Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy

Type: Blended Malt Whisky

Distilleries: 80% Ardbeg, 20% Glen Moray

Age: 17-24 year old Ardbeg and 12 year old Glen Moray, thus it's a 12 year old whisky
Maturation: ???
Limited bottling: 16,000

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Yes
Color added? ???
(Thanks to Whisky Brett P. for most of the samples this week!!!)

The color is light gold. The nose is somehow both wood pulpy and grainy. Citrus bathroom cleaner, burned sneakers and pears. Acidic oatmeal (not a thing). The weakness of the peat is fascinating, and not in a good way. There's a milky buttery thing in there. A wee wee wee hint of tropical fruit. More than a wee wee wee bit farty. VERY grassy. Smells like one of my own terrible blends. The palate starts of chocolatey and malty. Pipe tobacco and toffee, with a dark berry element underneath. Not bad, but it's thin and watery. Grows more one-dimensionally acidic with time. It finishes both creamy and acidic. Burnt stuff. Some pears. It has a decent length, but an icky chemical citrus aftertaste.

COMMENTARY
or rather
QUESTIONS?
--If this is a mix of 20-something year old whisky and 12 year old whisky, then why is it grassy like a single digit whisky?
--If it's 80% Ardbeg and 20% Glen Moray, then why isn't the Moray absolutely buried in this blend? Even if it was 80% Glen Moray and 20% Ardbeg, it wouldn't read as Moray-heavy as this. Is there something else in the mix here?
--If not, then how awful were those Ardbeg casks? Couldn't they have been sold to Murray McDavid to be salvaged with a nice Mogen David Blackberry finish?
--And where the hell was the SWA during this release? Ardbeg was leaking spraying out this recipe like an incontinent duck after his third espresso. If the SWA threatened to send John Glaser through the spanking machine for revealing less than this about his blends, then why didn't they take away all 38 of Bill Lumsden's cats?
--If Serendipity tasted like it smelled, would I have barfed?
--What the hell is going on here?

Availability - the secondary marketplace, and maybe a dozen European retailers
Pricing - $150-$250, though Winesearcher shows the average price is now where it was five years ago. I can't imagine that's a super sign in this market.
Rating - 72 (dat nose tho)

Seven Ardbeg Tens, 2000-2016 – The Taste Off

I know the PLOWED guys do more epic Ardbeg tastings for breakfast every morning. But this is a big freaking deal at Diving for Pearls.

If you missed the introduction to this seven-way comparison, click on over to Wednesday's post. Here are the stars of the show by bottle code:

1. L0 072 4ML L1033 - bottled in 2000 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied, pour purchased and directly deposited into my sample bottle at a mystery bar located somewhere off A846, "old" Ten label
2. L5 290 23:12 4ML - bottled in 2005 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied, sample poured from my own bottle, "old" Ten label
3. L7 323 21:19 4ML - bottled in 2007 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied and/or Glenmorangie Plc, sample poured from my own bottle, "old" Ten label
4. L8 057 22:45 4ML - The first Black Mystery bottling, bottled in 2008 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied and/or Glenmorangie plc, bottled by Glenmorangie plc, pour purchased and directly deposited into my sample bottle at a mystery bar located somewhere off A846, "old" Ten label
5. L10 165 12:47 6ML - bottled in 2010 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, sample poured from my own bottle, "new" Ten label
6. L13 003 11:13 6ML - bottled in 2013 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, sample donated by Brett P. (thanks!), "new" Ten label
7. L65615 - bottled in 2016 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, from my own bottle, "new" Ten label

As mentioned on Wednesday, the going theory is that the Tens with bottle codes after L7 143 are from Glenmorangie plc's spirit, even when those codes precede that company's "first" Ardbeg 10yo called "Renaissance". I hope to gain some clarity about this situation with this tasting.

I will be comparing 15-20mL pours side-by-side, then interspersed, until the glasses are empty. That's a lot of alcohol for a lightweight like me, so I'll spread out the tasting over two hours, that way my senses won't become compromised.

Welcome to 2017. Hold on to your butts.

THE NOSES

Whisky	Notes
L0 072 (2000)	Medicinal with some musty dunnage funk. Mothballs, moss and dried grass. Nutty parmesan cheese, smoked butterscotch and a hint of lemon.
L5 290 (2005)	Very potent. Mesquite, rubber, burnt tires and new car smell. Tablet and apples. Tequila + lime juice.
L7 323 (2007)	Barbecue, specifically burnt ends. A bit sugary though, with a touch of vanilla. Elephant cage. A hint of ethyl prickle. With time, some peach slips in.
L8 057 (2008)	Lots of char. Burnt moss. Sesame oil. Maple syrup and a little bit of lemon. Bleach.
L10 165 (2010)	Not as sooty as I remember it being, instead it's an herbal rubbery bomb. Then salt, honey, whole wheat toast and lemon pastries. Slight farmy note.
L13 003 (2013)	Lots of barley and a hint of bacon. Brown sugar, orange peel, vanilla cookies. Peat smoke, plastic toys and saline.
L65615 (2016)	Varnish. Burnt plastic. Yeast in the foreground, ash in the background. Hints of cocoa, band aids and dirty hay.

THE PALATES

Whisky	Notes
L0 072 (2000)	Lovely. A great balance of soft sweetness, bitterness and pepperiness. Pastries, menthol, cayenne pepper and Ceylon cinnamon.
L5 290 (2005)	A wormwood bitterness around the edges. A strong earthy note, and more moss than smoke. Sweet citrus and chili peppers in the background.
L7 323 (2007)	Cinnamon, ethyl heat, salt and mild peat. Sugar, chlorine and jalapeños.
L8 057 (2008)	Pleasantly fruity and salty. No smoke, just vegetal peat. A bit of alcohol warmth. More sweetness and bitterness with time.
L10 165 (2010)	Toasty and sweet. Marshmallows and peat. Brown sugar and tart berries.
L13 003 (2013)	Quite sweet. Mint candy. A little bit of tar and smoke. Mild white fruit note.
L65615 (2016)	Peatiest, hottest and rawest of the group. Salt water, burnt grains and a big bitter bite.

THE FINISHES

Whisky	Notes
L0 072 (2000)	A cool mint and menthol tingle that expands and expands. Some lingering gentle smoke.
L5 290 (2005)	The smoke shows up here with a horseradish bitterness and a big chili pepper bite. Nothing pretty about it.
L7 323 (2007)	The lightest finish of the group. Pepper and chlorine. Mossy peat. Drying.
L8 057 (2008)	Very warm. Burnt ends and a light smokiness. A good bitter bite appears after a while.
L10 165 (2010)	Austere (I'm allowed to use that word once a month) and ashy. Tart and tingly.
L13 003 (2013)	A light herbal bitterness, saline and ashy residue.
L65615 (2016)	A drying ethyl tingle and a peat conflagration. Sour and salty.

COMMENTARY AND RATINGS

Whisky	Notes	Rating
L0 072 (2000)	Codename: Beauty Queen. The most nuanced and balanced of the group, and the best drink to boot. It was the best in all three categories. The peating feels moderate, even lighter than modern Caol Ila.	90
L5 290 (2005)	Codename: Margarita. Rougher around the edges and more chaotic than the 2000, but very appealing in its ruggedness. Once I found the tequila and lime in the nose, I couldn't stop smelling it. Yet it's better than tequila and lime. A lot better.	88
L7 323 (2007)	Codename: Jimmy Durante. A thunderous nose, but a palate that's a little raw and misses more than it hits, especially in the finish. It's still a good drink, though.	85
L8 057 (2008)	Codename: Enigma. Another big crazy nose, but a mellow palate and finish. Almost like two different whiskies.	87
L10 165 (2010)	Codename: Simple Simon. Straightforward modern Ardbeg, but nowhere near as sooty as I remembered it to be. Surprisingly sweet, actually.	87
L13 003 (2013)	Codename: Kildalton Candy. Very rich sweet stuff. Had its finish not completely fizzled out, this may have been a 90-point whisky.	87
L65615 (2016)	Codename: Petulant Toddler. You cannot convince me this is ten years old. Everything in Kilchoman's range, including the half-baked 100% Islays, register as longer-matured than this. This "10 year old" feels maybe five years at its oldest. It's not bad whisky, just very very raw. Truly the most divergent of the group. I do hope it improves because I have most of a bottle left over.	82

Okay enough with all this fancy HTML.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As a result of this tasting, I'm going to agree with the PLOWED and Maniac fellows who say the post-L7 143 stuff is from the new ownership. There are clear differences between the Allied Lyons and Glenmorangie plc distillates. The new stuff is much sweeter. It's also more likely to be inconsistent, out of balance, schizophrenic. That doesn't always mean it's worse, but sometimes it does. And yet when it is worse, it's still much better than most peated whiskies on the market. I would be happy to drink any of these seven whiskies, though I'm a little concerned about the 2016 bottling. It's slightly more acceptable on its own, but it suffers deeply when compared to these other Tens. If my 2016 bottle doesn't improve it might be my last modern Ardbeg Ten. On the other hand, I would be happy to blindly buy a bottle of Allied-era Ardbeg.

Fatherhood Report: Winter Gloves

It's 19 degrees outside. Mathilda has graduated from mini potholder-shaped mittens to five-finger gloves. She and I are in our coats and hats, miraculously on track for getting to school on time. I bend over to try to wiggle the first glove onto her tiny hand.

Seven minutes—at least four hundred and twenty seconds—later we are still working on the first glove.

Our coats and hats are off, lying around us on the kitchen floor. I've begun to sweat. My lower back is seizing up. A supplicant on his knees, I'm practicing controlled breathing as I continue to wiggle her fingers into their assigned places beneath the wool.

"Papa?" she says.

Despite my repeated demonstrations and variously phrased edifications, she's not grasping the intellectual theory or functional process of five digits into their five little warm houses. And I can't get angry at her. She's two-and-a-half years old.

"Papa?"

And it's not her fault, she's from Orange Country. Which means she's got a two-year handicap before she understands how winter things work. The only way we can get these gloves on is if I remain calm.

"Papa."

But these goddamn gloves have such ridiculously small finger holes. It's like threading a fucking needle, if the thread only wanted to pick a nostril or point at the squirrel outside or get some more milk please. For god sakes I'll just get her stupid goddamn mittens that are too fucking small for her hands.

"Papa."

"What?" I bite off in a fraction of a syllable, as I look up at her face.

"You look beautiful," she says, eyes glittering.

"Th--"

The universe suctions all the air from my lungs.

Don't don't cry in front of your daughter. When you're in the car later, alone, then you can sob, like a real man.

"Thank you, sweetheart." I squeeze her hand. "Can you wiggle your fingers inside the glove, please?"

She does and all five fingers move right into their spots for the first time.

"That's excellent, sweets!" I tell her to make a fist, the true way of finding out if all fingers are in the right places. Sure enough, they are.

"Fist bump." That she knows how to do. I receive an appropriately delivered small pink wool fist bump.

The second glove slips on perfectly on the third try.

Seven Ardbeg Tens, 2000-2016 – An Introduction

Ardbeg, the brand distillery I love to hate. I love their regular range of the Ten, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan. I do not love their annual gimmicks "special" releases. I love the plain lean design of their regular releases. I do not love the lemming-like response to every new gadget they announce. And I LOVE TO HATE their marketing. Mmmmmm, the hate is delicious. Much like the Ardbeg Ten I'm drinking right now.

So, about Ardbeg Ten...

Example of the late "old" label

I have seven different samples of Ardbeg Ten right here in front of me. Here they are, listed by bottle code (for nerds!):

1. L0 072 4ML L1033 - bottled in 2000 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied, pour purchased and directly deposited into my sample bottle at a mystery bar located somewhere off A846, "old" Ten label
2. L5 290 23:12 4ML - bottled in 2005 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied, sample poured from my own bottle, "old" Ten label
3. L7 323 21:19 4ML - bottled in 2007 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied and/or Glenmorangie Plc, sample poured from my own bottle, "old" Ten label
4. L8 057 22:45 4ML - The first Black Mystery bottling, bottled in 2008 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Allied and/or Glenmorangie plc, bottled by Glenmorangie plc, pour purchased and directly deposited into my sample bottle at a mystery bar located somewhere off A846, "old" Ten label
5. L10 165 12:47 6ML - bottled in 2010 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, sample poured from my own bottle, "new" Ten label
6. L13 003 11:13 6ML - bottled in 2013 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, sample donated by Brett P. (thanks!), "new" Ten label
7. L65615 - bottled in 2016 by Glenmorangie plc, distilled by Glenmorangie plc, from my own bottle, "new" Ten label

The fate of the L7 bottle. Damn you, corks!

To recap:

2016

• The sources: 4 from my bottles, 2 pours purchased on Islay, 1 sample from a friend
• All were bottled by the current Glenmorangie Plc ownership
• Two were definitely distilled by previous ownership Allied Lyon
• Three were definitely distilled by Glenmorangie Plc
• Two (the L7 and L8) have codes preceding Glenmorangie's Plc's first official 10 year old, "Renaissance", but wiser men than I think that everything after L7 143 is actually stuff from the current ownership. Could distillate from both companies be in the batches? Seriously, that's not a rhetorical question. I don't know the answer.
• For more information on The Black Mystery bottling, see The Ardbeg Project's page on it. (Hint: marketing.)

So why am I doing this Taste Off?

Because I just had a bunch of samples lying around? Sounds good.

Or is it because I've found the quality of Ardbeg 10yo to be consistently high over the years, and I've been curious to find out if the nose and palate are actually changing while still remaining good? Sounds better.

Because history? Sure!

2005

I will indeed be trying these seven whiskies side-by-side. With water, not for the whiskies but for my mouth. There's no telling what I'll find. This may be fruitless. Or totally fruity. In any case, please return on Friday for the results......if I survive to tell the tale of the Seven Ardbeg Tens.

Single Malt Report: Springbank 16 year old 1999 Local Barley

I bought this bottle to celebrate the completion of our massive move from California to Ohio. It was also the third-most expensive bottle I'd ever purchased. So when I opened it, I really hoped it was good.

There had been a lot of excitement around this release since the previous Local Barley releases, distilled 30 years earlier, are part of whisky history/lore. The European bottles from this new release were snapped up immediately at the start of 2016, but the US bottles were not. And many are still available. Is the price that holds people back? Or is it because this isn't some super sherried release? What, everyone isn't into craft whisky...?

...because this is actual craft whisky. The (prisma!) barley is from Low Machrimore Farm, a few miles from Springbank, and was floor-malted at the distillery. It was, of course, distilled at the distillery, and then bottled right there. But, the oak is not from Kintyre. Sad!

Distillery: Springbank
Brand: Springbank

Owner: Springbank Distillers Ltd.
Region: Campbeltown, on Well Close, just off of Longrow

Age: 16 years (September 1999 - January 2016)
Barley: Prisma, from Low Machrimore Farm

Maturation: 80% ex-bourbon and 20% ex-sherry casks; probably refills, IMO
Limited bottling: 9,000 worldwide

Alcohol by Volume: 54.3%

NEAT
Its color is light gold. The nose is full of cereal grain notes—especially barley (duh) and wheat—wrapped in roasted seaweed. There's also white meringue, lemon and orange peels, and a low rumble of fresh manure. The palate is darker, inkier and heavier than the nose. Lemons and dingy peat. Or is it peated grapefruit candy? Soil, limes and a Talisker-pepperiness merged with malty richness. A little bit of pineapple sweetness in the back. The finish strikes earthy and inky, as well. A grapefruit and Campari bite meets serrano pepper heat and a peachy sweetness.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Barley, anise, apples and oranges on the nose. Then dockside air and honey. The palate has lots of citrus essence, minus the sweetness, especially limes and lemons. Malted barley and whisper of cayenne pepper. Baked apples with fruity Ceylon cinnamon. It finishes with salty peat and roasted grains and nuts. Lemon and a gentle brown sugar sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Yeah it's good. It's the epitome of clean crisp single malt bottled at the perfect time. The casks served their purpose of maturing the whisky without intruding upon it, which may have happened five or ten years later. The development in the nose is subtle but quite remarkable as the lemons gradually ease forward over ten minutes, to be followed by a bundle of oranges. The ink and honey notes are also lovely, in their own ways.

It's my favorite bottle I opened in 2016. That's why I saved it for the final review. Is it worth almost $200? I don't know. Because I bought it to celebrate this important moment in my family's life, it was worth it to me. Your experience and valuation will different from mine.

As 2016 draws to a close, may I just request that all of you take care of yourselves. Don't help this year claim any more good people. Please.

Availability - easier to find in the US than in Europe
Pricing - $170-$200 (US), $150-250 (Europe), original SRP was £95
Rating - 90