Single Malt
Scotland
No
Yes
This stunning expression from Islay's Ardbeg distillery on the Kildalton Coast is named after a nearby loch (pronounced "Oog-a-dal"). It's the perfect example of how sweet and savoury notes can work together spectacularly - you'll find Ardbeg's maritime salinity intact here, combined with dried fruit notes imparted by time spent in sherry casks. Kind of like when you mix sweet popcorn and salty popcorn together, it results in something absolutely wonderful.
Multifaceted, notes of peat and little flourishes of dark sugar, freshly ground espresso beans, cereal notes and a most sophisticated tar.
Led by sweet, ripe fruit and black forest honey. A good helping of malt. The throne then usurped by a powerful peat and smoked barley.
Very long, caramel and malt weave their way through peat smoke and dark sugar and just a hint of fresh espresso coffee before it finally peters out.
Such deft balance! How wonderful to sample Ardbeg so beautifully complimented by sherry.
Side by side tasting now with the Corryvreckan. On the nose is band-aids (plasters), or the medicine “Seirogan” (正露丸) if one is familiar with Japanese medicine, and wood. It immediately reminded me of the familiar taste of Laphroaig 10... On the palate is cereal and peat, then come the fruit/ sherry cask notes. After a few minutes, you get less iodine and more cask flavors emerging. Add a few drops of water, and let it sit more a few minutes and it becomes more complex with the peat and sherry. A long finish, with peat remaining on the tongue. A superb whisky.
I like the Corryvreckan, and the 10, and the An Oa is good though maybe overpriced compared to the 10, but for me...the Uigeadail is the best of Ardbeg.
Comparing this to the Bunnahabhain 12yo, which promised a more or less similair flavour profile to this Ardbeg expression, the Uigeadail is smokier, more intensely sherried and more complex than the bunnahabhain 12. Perhaps subtle lighter malts are wasted on me, but I highly prefer this tasty malt. The sherry base would come closest to the GD 12 in my opinion, but the Ardbeg smoke gives this malt an extra diminsion. Although this malt is quite expensive it's at the very least worth the experience to give it a try.
While I normally enjoy my Speysides, sherry finishers and after experimenting with the Laphroigh Select I went straight to this monster. Oh you will be suckered in if you didn't see the proof. The nose is smoke all day long. The palette however, is not at all harsh. The smoke is there and while heavily, highly surprisingly doesn't wrestle you. It's caressing, velvety and soft. Despite being a knock around 54.2% it's very, very smooth and astonishingly the smoke completely disappears on the finish. Hell of an experience and I will definitely return for more.
The first taste instantly transported me to a deserted Scottish beach on a late spring sunny day, the sun setting over the sea leaving the last of it's warm glow on the skin. The romance of it all literally bought a tear to my eye. I don't know why people say it is harsh, it isn't, its smooth with perfectly balanced subtle smoky peat kissed with sherry sweetness, even without water. For me it is perfect, I can't believe it could get any better.
