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Ardbeg
Scotland
Single Malt
Ardbeg Dark Cove is matured in ex-bourbon and "dark Sherry casks" for "The Darkest Ardbeg Ever". If the Committee Release is anything to go by (which it is), then the hue isn't actually terribly dark, but those 'dark' casks provide plenty of oaky depth. Undoubtedly a terrific single malt, there are interesting comparisons to be made with the partly Oloroso matured Uigeadail.
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
At first meaty, earthy and spicy, with bold notes of dark chocolate emerging against orange, treacle toffee, coffee and oak, a smoky background and a mysterious floral note.
The mouthfeel is almost tart, with raisins, dates, ginger and pepper spice surge and waves of smouldering charcoal, wood polish and creosote notes, leading to cured smoked ham and squid ink noodles.
Long, spicy and rich with notes of toffee, coffee and tar.
Incredibly rich, a truly splendid Ardbeg. Too bad it's a limited release.
Ardbeg distills my some of my absolute favorite whisky and I am a big Ardbeg fan. This one has missed the mark slightly. Not a lot of depth here. Smooth but not nearly as interesting or flavorful as Uigeadail, Corryvrecken or Galileo. It lacks maturity and complexity. Hard to measure up when the bar has been set so high, but still a very drinkable dram.
Had a nip of the cask strength 53.1% whilst in Edinburgh and this is much better than the 46.5%. The cask strength has a lovely tobacco taste in the mouth that its smaller brother may misses. As the bigger man it's comes with a bigger price tag but worth every Penney more.
At first, a splendid amber colour. A fantastic nose (smoke like an estinguished fire in a cavern, also discretly something like the acid sherries in alcohol made by my greatfather ! iode and peat pushed by smoke). Palate : great, some olive perhaps. And finish on smoke, long smoke, small bitterness. A good and surprising test, enough to think about buying a bottle even quite expensive (seen two in "caves" around 150 €). I compared immediatly with "the ten" : another wolrd, nothing in common. This Dark cove is really on the old smoke and peat. (if any occasion to test Kildalton to compare).
An ardberg that should find a place in your collection if you love whiskies. Sherry & fruity with the Ardberg smokiness. Ardberg has put a lot of effort into this with the sherried whiskies but a little more alcohol and matured whiskies would have made it an all time great like Uigeadail. Beginners or new comers wont appreciate the complexity & the style. Islay whiskies with sherry cask influence are the best whiskies to drink. This is a good attempt from Ardberg. Nose: Sherry. Fruity. A bit of toffee. A lot of smokiness. Needs a bit of time to discover things. Would recommend a good 10-15 mts for the nose. Palate: Raisins. Lacquer. Mocha or dark chocolate in the sips aftermath the first one. Not too oily. A bit of mediterranean herb in the distance. (not sure if its the olive flavour as another reviewer mentioned or the mysyerious floral notes as MoM mention) Good balance though. Finish: Nice. But medium. Not the sweet sherry but more bitter like dark chocolate. A bit more alcohol & avoidance of young whiskies would have made this an all time great whisky. The committee release should be spectacular. Perhaps I might like that more.
