Ardbeg 8 - 50.8%
Distillery notes:
Ardbeg 8 Years Old is a big, youthful, deliberately challenging whisky that we think our smoke-loving, insanely committed Committee Members will go wild for.
Unmistakeable smoky intensity. Charcoal and creosote. Curious hints of fennel and celery mixed with woodsmoke… Ardbeg 8 Years Old is guaranteed to provoke discussion.
Colour: Pale Straw
Nose: Intense with a burst of charcoal, creosote, tar and treacle toffee, with curious hints of something vegetal, like fennel, celery and green peppers. Once these subside, there are hints of milk chocolate, aniseed and woodsmoke. With a little drop of water, some more herbal notes appear, like fennel, coriander and lavender, along with some characteristic Ardbeg aromatic woodsmoke and a hint of fresh, salty sea spray.
Taste: A distinctively peppery mouthfeel eases into a complex symphony of flavours; treacle toffee, aniseed, salted caramel chocolate, eucalyptus, menthol and briar wood, to name but a few. The ‘tingling’, peppery sensation on the palate continues, with the sweeter flavours giving way to more savoury notes like charcoal, smoked bacon, burnt toast and tar.
Finish: The aftertaste is long and lingering, with a suggestion of peppermint and clove.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Pale gold, forms a thin line which falls as thick, oily legs.
Nose: Slightly dirty industrial smoke, tarry with a medicinal tinge. Smoked fish with fennel and star anise. With time in the glass a flinty, mineral notes appears and the vegetal notes grow, whilst the peat decreases producing a drier, bonfire ember smokiness.
Palate: An initial sharp hit of pepper is followed by flinty peat smoke. Both quickly subside, allowing sweeter notes of toffee and sultanas to emerge, together with more of the vegetal notes from the nose. Heather honey, cinnamon and a hint of a cooling menthol note follow.
Finish: Long, the honey and vegetal notes gradually dissipate to leave a sweet, ashy smoke.
Summary: According to Ardbeg, this is a whisky which is ‘big, youthful, deliberately challenging’ with a ‘smoky intensity’ and is ‘guaranteed to provoke discussion’. Strong claims, but does the whisky live up to them?
The youthfulness is there in the form of that peppery hit on the palate, but it’s pleasant and I enjoy younger Islay whiskies as they tend to be punchier and carry more of those characteristic peat smoke notes. The smoke itself isn’t as intense as expected, the industrial peatiness disappears quickly leaving behind a drier, ashy smoke which takes more of a supporting actor role than a headline act.
The most unusual part is the vegetal note which weaves its way through from nose to finish, and at the expense of some of the typical Ardbeg sweetness. Add in the notes reminiscent of menthol & eucalyptus sweets, albeit heavily toned down, and you have an atypical Ardbeg malt. It’s still very enjoyable, just a little different.
Currently, and surprisingly, still available at £57 on the Ardbeg website which is extraordinarily inexpensive compared to some of their recent NAS releases. For me, it’s good value for money and well worth seeking out.
If you would like to know more about Ardbeg and their whiskies, follow the link to the company website.
Transparency: This sample was part of a 5 dram sample set, purchased from The Spirits Embassy. No goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested for this independent review.
