Ardbeg – Ten Year Old

When you start drinking whisky, there are some bottles that almost cry out to be drunk. They are the recommendations that you always hear from people, they come up in conversation and they are the whiskies that you read about. They are the standard bearers of good quality. One of these whiskies is the Ardbeg 10. I looked forward to buying it for a while and then found it on offer in a large supermarket. I have cherished having it in my collection and now feels like the right time to bring it out and to review it.

Aroma: Strongly Medicinal, Smokey and Full of Citrus.

Taste: This whisky starts by being smooth, sweet and oily. It has citrus and green fruit notes, which hide in plain sight. Then the flavour turns, develops and opens into a big, powerful, smokey salty dog that feels like it washed up in my glass direct from the North Sea. It is medicinal, smokey and tastes like a hospital ward after a through clean. Oddly though it is as buttery and smooth as it is medicinal. The smoke is like that, that is given off by a coal stove, warming a small Scottish cottage.

Mouthfeel: Oily, but smooth. Smoked, but light.

Overall: This whisky deserves its high praise. Its complex, smooth and full flavoured. It tastes like it has made its way from the sea, covered in seaweed. The Peat Monster from below the sea, who is sucking pear drops and lighting a barbecue to cook his dinner.

Aroma – 17
Start – 16
Middle – 17
Finish – 17
Value – 17

Overall – 84/100

More Information: The Ardbeg Distillery

Available: 31Dover.com