Unforgettable fire
Well, life is strange, and full of illusions. This great whisky relieved me from one of my illusions, namely Ardbeg 10.
My son bought a bottle of Batch 012 to me, and when we were tasting it, I mentioned that it would be interesting to compare this to Ardbeg 10. Strangely, son found a bottle of Ardbeg from his room and we did a tasting test. It was unbelievable how watery and one-dimensional Ardbeg appeared in comparison to Batch 012. In fact, 10 is not exactly one-dimensional, it has some clearly similar elements than in 012, sweetness, rotten seaweed, peat etc. – but still in a very one-dimensional way, because I realized that 10 lacks the BOTTOM. Every element in it are somehow disconnected. That makes the difference.
Batch 012 burns and stings, it´s at the same time sharp and smooth, full of honey and tar, fruity, medicinal, it lives and changes appearance and character. But everything in it is very pleasant and balanced. Because it has BOTTOM, ground where to stand. I would say that it´s very lively and powerful whisky, opposite to Arbeg 1o, that feels dull and watery beside Batch 012. What comes to Ardbeg, I could imagine that those who prefer Corrywreckan over 10, would love Batch 012.
To me this is very confusing, because I was a great fan of Ardbeg 10. I want to add to this that if you like Laphroaig 10 or QC, be warned. Batch 012 differs surprisingly much from both of them. There are a lot of same elements, but the final result is something totally different.
Even with 60% ABM, you don´ have to add water to it, my experience was that water made it a bit disconnected.
All in all, I would say that this whisky is not for everyone. Batch 012 is full of power, and it`s young in a good way – but at the same time it´s complex and demanding. If you want to find that medicinal, peaty, ash and tar from Islay whisky – start your search, for example, from Laphroaigh Quarter Cask, which is really good starting point.
Ahti Valkeapää Sep 2, 2020
