A phenomenal whisky packing powerful peaty deliciousness, Ardbeg 10 Year Old is a favourite of many whisky lovers around the world. Produced on the Kildalton Coast of Islay, this single malt matures for a decade before being bottled without any chill-filtration. If you're after a whisky full of coastal air, smoke and more, this is exactly what you want.
A ridge of vanilla leads to mountain of peat capped with citrus fruits and circled by clouds of sea spray.
Sweet vanilla counterbalanced with lemon and lime followed by that surging Ardbeg smoke that we all know and love.
Long and glorious; sea salted caramel and beach bonfire smoke.
Precise balance, big smoke and non-chill filtered. This is why this is such a famous dram.
I will always have a bottle of this in my whisky cabinet.Like its neighbours (Lagavulin and Laphroaig) this is a peat bruiser but has multi faceted notes of brine,tobacco,lime,oysters,tar,smoke and an intense salty tang,which is just so addictive.I have had the good fortune to visit the distillery many times and drink this dram there.Unique and powerful in a good way.
To my taste, Ardbeg lives at the end of the peaty scotch spectrum. That’s the burning, burnt hellfire end, where nose and tongue wrinkle and curl. But I like it. It’s a startling taste of power and fiery finish. But my favotite is still Lagavulin. Smooth, subtle, sweet... refined.
The classic 10-year old, gemstone, buy it! :)
Heavily peated malts are not for everyone. It's not a matter of experience or sophisticated taste, some people will never like it, others just instantly like it even without being a malt geek (popularity of Johnnie Walker and Teacher's comes to mind). It's absurd to insist that this is a "must have Scotch". Must-have if you are into peated malts, yes. But millions of cognac and bourbon drinkers do fine without peat, as do millions of unpeated Scotch drinkers. Now, that doesn't mean that these are bad - they are designed to be exactly what they are because that's what some people love. Sadly, these disappointed reviews from clueless newbs drown out the more important reviews from those who remember this expression being better. Now, that's concerning. I bought my first bottle of Ardbeg 10 on Ralfy's recommendation (having tasted Lagavulin 16 and liked it). I was taken aback at first - it was shockingly phenolic, like ichtammol ointment. I figured I'll add a drop of it to a sweet malt until I learn to like it. Yet, strong peat has a strangely addictive, moreish attraction :) I still prefer Lagavulin 16 and other sweeter expressions like Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan and the lighter Caol Ila 12. I also like the less-peated Highland Park 12. And I prefer Ardbeg 10 to Laphroaig 10 because of 46% abv, no chill filtration and no added caramel. Laphroaig has green bottles, why do they care how dark their whisky is? Peat diminishes with maturation, so younger expressions will be more phenolic (I have a bottle of Lagavulin 8 stashed waiting for a special session). If it's too much, try adding a few drops of Drambuie (preferably the 15-year old malt-based version) to it. Sweetness balances out the phenols, IMO. Or try adding a few drops of Ardbeg 10 to your preferred unpeated malts.
I have been looking through the negative reviews and I have to say, if folks do not like peated whisky in general, don't fault the whisky and give it a poor score. This is a fine whisky, nice peat flavor, good mouth feel and long finish.
