Master of Malt's #WhiskySanta has returned to give away free orders, £100 vouchers, tens of thousands of pressies inside packages, and to grant Christmas wishes too!
Order online before Sunday 22nd December by 9:30pm for guaranteed delivery in mainland UK.
You can also choose to collect from our Tonbridge office, which is open until 4pm on Christmas Eve (orders must be in by 3pm).
Ardbeg
Scotland
Single Malt
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It's the Committee Release of Ardbeg Kelpie, a single malt released in 2017 having been matured in casks made from virgin Black Sea oak and more traditional bourbon casks. The Committee Release is bottled at the higher strength of 51.7% ABV (while the standard Ardbeg Kelpie is bottled at 46% ABV).
This bottle was part of a private collection - if you'd like more detailed photos just get in touch!
Just an absolute knock out. Thick warm spicy mouth, rich oily chocolate, deep maritime smoke. Beautifully balanced. Almost tricks your mind into switching between dark chocolate confectionary and savoury smoked haddock; both of which bring me back to weekends at my grandparents house.
Phenomenal dram. Real depth to the nose, very complex - maritime with coffee/peat. A dark, murky palate which never settles on any one flavour. Meaty, smoky, bitter, oily, fragrant and tart at the same time - bewildering and fantastic.
I didn't expect to like the Kelpie, being a big fan of the Oogie and Corry. And yes, it's true that the Kelpie is distinctly different. But it may now be my favorite Ardbeg. Does it have that famous Ardbeg complexity and peatiness? Yes. The smoke, though, is more muted, coming in on the tail end of some herbal, buttery, briny notes that give way to a sea-kelp/sea-weed flavor. Every time I sip this, I am taken back to memories of campfires on the beach in Oregon, cooking fresh salmon while breathing in the ocean air, with hints of pine on the breeze. It's intense, yet more subtle than the Corry, and more salty than the Oogie. A long, satisfying finish.
Tasting notes above are accurate, an incredible dram which is a great example of what whisky is all about - complexity but with an overall cohesion that bewilders the palate. Awesome! Elements of both the Uigeadail and the Corryvreckan but melded into something much more intense and different entirely.
