Ardbeg Homecoming Distillery Exclusive - 56.1%

Homecoming was released on Ardbeg Day as a distillery exclusive for Fèis Ìle 2025. A no age statement whisky, finished in rum casks and bottled at a generous 56.1%

Tasting notes:

Appearance: Pale gold, forms a thin line which falls slowly as thick, oily legs

Nose: Smoky and sweet. Soft peat, pineapple, banana cream pie, lemon citrus and a peppery prickle. With a little more time in the glass, notes of ginger ale, clove oil and petrichor appear

Palate: Quite thin on arrival, followed by a chilli heat. As this subsides, charred pineapple, foam banana, subtle ashy smoke, orange pith, anise, crystallized ginger and the kind of maritime saltiness and minerality you get from licking pebbles straight out of the surf. With water it becomes more astringent with an unsubtle chilli heat

Finish: Long, mildly astringent with a noticeable bitterness. Coastal salt, black liquorice, candied Angelica and Thai basil, whilst ginger and cinnamon bring spice

Overall: Trying a new rum finished whisky always seem to give me a feeling of mild trepidation. For every really good one there seems to be at least one that makes you wish you hadn’t bothered. I wouldn’t go as far as that with this one from Ardbeg, but I can honestly say I’ve had much better whiskies from them.

This is one of those drams I would really struggle to identify as an Ardbeg, or indeed as a rum cask, in a blind tasting. Those typical Ardbeggian notes of fruit and hefty peat smoke are muted in favour of more bitter notes. The tropical fruit notes were there but very subtle and had a slightly synthetic quality.

This is a distillery exclusive so you would expect it to carry a premium price, and this one comes in at £120. Personally, I’m glad I had a sample to try, but I certainly wasn’t tempted to take a bottle home with me. Ardbeg has a sizeable fan base, so I’m sure it won’t stay too long on the shelves in the distillery shop.

If you would like more information on this whisky, or the Ardbeg distillery, follow the link to the company website.