A trip to Ardbeg
Islay is expanding. Not only is the island about to gain two new distilleries (at least), its more established producers are racing to increase their capacity. Last year, in 2021, Ardbeg began producing spirit in a new, purpose-built still-house.
In order to increase capacity and keep up with rising demand, owners LVMH decided that the old, cramped still-house would have to be replaced with something a bit bigger. The new version overlooks the shoreline and doubles the number of stills from two to four. It’s an impressive structure that would feel more like a cathedral than a still-house, were it not for the four copper stills that take up residence within.
The Islay Whisky Academy paid a visit to the distillery as part of the Spring ’22 Residential Diploma. Unfortunately, photos aren’t allowed in the new still-house but we did get to snap away in the old one. It was nice to see inside the decommissioned stills and fun to see the old condensers lying in the courtyard awaiting their as-yet-unknown fate.
Ardbeg is a distillery I rarely leave without a bottle under my arm. I find the quality of the whisky produced there to be among the best on Islay. This time there was an abundance of their latest Committee Release on the shelves. Having tasted it in the warehouse only a few moments earlier, I decided I’d splash out on the £105 bottle as a wee treat to myself.
The latest special edition has been released for the 2022 Ardbeg Day celebrations. June 4th sees celebrations at the distillery and at various events all over the world, not to mention online. Each year there is a theme. This year its punk rock. The whisky is called Ardcore and its made from dark roasted malted barley.
There are some in the whisky community that seem to get very upset with Ardbeg’s shenanigans. The funny names and brightly coloured labels provoke seemingly endless complaints on social media. And don’t get them started on the dressing up that takes place at the distillery on Ardbeg Day. For my part, I quite like the fun of it all. Whisky is meant to be fun. We don’t have to take it so seriously all the time.
[*Incidentally, for an interesting and fun chat about Whisky Geeks and the pitfalls of taking things too seriously, you should check out the Islay Whisky Academy’s IWA LIVE 4 stream on YouTube https://youtu.be/z_D2_v2gtrs]
That said, I sometimes find myself wondering what came first, the whisky or the marketing concept? Obviously the spirit was laid down some years back so it’s been in the pipeline for a while but did master blender Bill Lumsden decide the whisky was ready and that prompted a mad dash to come up with a marketing concept for it or did the marketing team come up with Ardcore and ask Dr Bill to find something in the warehouse that fit the brief? Whatever the case, it’s a fun name and I know one of the Islay Whisky Academy students, once a bit of a punk himself, was delighted with it!
Incidentally, punk was a bit before my time but rave wasn’t. If the marketing team at Ardbeg haven’t lined up Happy Ardcore as a follow up they’re missing a trick. Imagine Ardbeg Day with dayglo smiley faces and glowsticks everywhere? That’s got to be a winner, surely!
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The Whisky
Smell: Lots of typical Ardbeg smoke. Coal fires and chimney smoke. Ash. Charcoal. Soot. A touch of that famous medicinal TCP note that’s unique to Islay. Dark chocolate and well-fired morning rolls. Cereals. There’s also citrus – lemon and fresh orange. The longer it sits in the glass, the fruitier it seems to become. Soon there’s tropical pineapple coming through. It almost develops a white wine quality.
Taste: A big mouthful of flavour. Brine. The aromas of stony beaches and seashells evaporate off the palate. Thick, almost acrid smoke like sitting too close to a campfire. Liquorice. Aniseed. Pepper. Earthier peat notes towards the back. A little paprika along with the pepper. Water released some creamy malt and vanilla but always with a malty base underneath. The finish is smoky and long, though perhaps not as intense as you’d expect.
Thoughts: I’m enjoying this but the idea of the roasted malt paints something of a picture that the reality doesn’t quite match. You almost expect to find an Ardbeg porter but while those chocolate and coffee notes are present in the glass they’re only a very small part of the big picture. The overall vibe is of a young Islay malt with plenty of peat and some subtle dark malt notes. Less Ardcore, more softcore?
Value for money: At £105 the price is a bit off-putting and it’s always a bit disheartening when a price tag like that doesn’t buy you more information – like an age statement, for example. I was, at least, in the fortunate position of being able to try it first and I can’t overstate how much of an advantage that is. Is it “worth” £105? In the grand scheme of things, probably not, but I knew that I was going to enjoy it before the purchase. It won’t be for everyone but I think fans of Ardbeg would find something to enjoy here. It just won’t be the price.
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For more on Ardbeg visit the website here https://www.ardbeg.com/
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