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.
And that was a failure, as I somehow clicked a half star on the my added info. Can a moderator or site owner delete the "Adding..." review? Or remove the half star?
I'm not adding a star review intentionally because I'm simply too new and haven't tasted enough to really form an opinion. I feel I lack experience to adequately grade this officially, but I wanted to chime in just the same.
I'm new to whisky, having finally discovered my desired taste profile when a neighbor served me a glass of Lagavulin 16. Since then I've been on a tasting journey, trying to discover as much as I can when the opportunities arise. Mostly I'm finding that I just prefer smokey Islays and thus my first purchase was a Bowmore 12, which I enjoyed but found it lacked the smokey peaty punch of the Lagavulin. It was a good introduction to the region nevertheless. My second purchase is the Ardbeg 10 and I'm not all that far into it, but I'm REALLY enjoying this. I've had the chance to contrast it directly to the Lagavulin 16, and though both are sublime, I do think this Ardbeg 10 is my winner. Price isn't the concern as they're both pretty pricey in my area: $92 for Ardbeg, $109 for Lagavulin (Montréal). I'd like to, and will eventually, own both simulataneously but at current time I'm giving the nod to Ardbeg. So this review is from a total novice, but I'm willing to and wanting to do this right. I'd like to try a few more Islays and then explore some other regions and styles. I like to be thorough, so I feel I can't move on from Islay until I've had at least Laphroaig and Bunnahabain.
*sweet* bonfire smoke
A superb dram but really it is not for the vast majority of whisky drinkers. It is best appreciated by someone who knows their whiskies and has some degree of skill with tasting and the words to express themselves. It is clear to see from the grammar and comments of some of the reviewers that they really should stick to Lager and Bitter. Please leave the serious comments to educated whisky drinkers such as myself and a select few!
