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.
Wow. ...A10 is a 10! It lives up to the hype. All of the superlatives I read and heard are accurate. I am a fan. now and until, somebody changes the recipe or process. Whom or who ever makes that poor decision should be shot. I am so glad I procured two bottles; should have bought two more...Wow. This is perfect.
So as of today iI have finally tried the big three, the 3 scotches that we as scotch drinkers inevitably decide is our favorite scotch(no offense to you sherry and or virgin oak aged air dried only drinkers which are great in their own right): lagavulin, laphroaig. and ardbeg. Now I am relatively new to the realm of scotch but I can tell that there is a certain order you go in, you start with blends like johnnie walker, chivas regal, dewar,s etc. but once you'e into single malts there's no going back, so you drink your glenmorangie and glenfiddich and try a sherry aged like balvenie double wood or macallan or dalmore and realize that you still want more richness and depth to your scotch so you try an islay. For me it was lagavulin 16 year, at first i wasn't sure what to think very peppery and smoky with a salty seaweed taste that was strange at first but quickly became addictive and soon i needed more smoke, so I bought laphroaig 10 year which for almost half of what lagavulin 16 costs was amazing, very peppery and smoky with a huge hit of seaweed/brine and finished with what can only be desrcibed as vanilla ice cream flavored band aids. A superb whisky but nontheless I could not rest till I'd found the final of the big three Islays so I went and bought ardbeg 10 today. First thing I notice is smoke, lots of smoke, glorious amounts, so smoky it will singe the hair off your balls, followed with a hint of saltwater and more smoke with some vanilla and dark chocolate a couple sips had hints of pepper but not too much and I love that I feel that the pepper can take away from the beautiful peat smoke. So I would have to say that this my favorite scotch now especially considering i just opened it today and it will only get better throughout the next few weeks. Laphroaig 10 will always have a special place in my cabinet (especially for $40) but ardbeg 10 is a little better, more smoke less medicine and pepper and for $60 with a nice glass not too bad. unfortunately ive realized this a little too late because everywhere in my area is running out fast.Can't wait to get uigeadail seems to be more available here in cali.
Taste is definitely subjective, so I definitely don't want to be snobbish towards those who do not love this whisky. That being said, when reading scotch reviews an overall picture develops of drinkers eventually catching the Islay bug, and getting drawn to the three pillars on the south coast...Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig. There is no wrong answer, I suppose, but for me, Ardbeg is the clear winner. There is just something extra amidst the smoke that makes it stand out. It ruins almost any other whisky for me!
I could not believe that this whisky had won awards, since it tasted just like the horrible Chloroseptic sore throat spray from my childhood. Upon research, I've learned that "with most <Ardbeg> expressions using malt with a phenol content of 55ppm." (Wikipedia) and Chloroseptic lists 1.4% phenol (14,000 ppm). Still, it tastes the same. Apparently not everyone agrees.
I love Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 16, but dislike Laphoaig and Caol Ila 12. Can some advise me on if I would like or dislike Ardbeg 10? Thanks.
