Hi everyone,
Today I’ve got more special whiskies from a special event. Yes, the Whiskybase Gathering in Rotterdam was pretty epic. And fresh off finding a whisky that finally scored 93, I was looking for something else to blow my mind.
Step in 1972 Ardbeg. Something I’ve been searching for for quite a while. Both the 1976’s I’ve tried have been awesome. Big, big expectations for this.
Remember, back then Ardbeg had its own maltings and the peating levels dropped throughout the 70’s, to the point that the early 80’s were almost completely unpeated. Meaning this should have been a pretty heavily peated one.
Ardbeg 1972 Old Malt Cask Sherry Finish 50%
Colour: Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Clean and dirty. Lime juice, complex grapefruit with juice, peel and rind, sooty and a little floral, something frying in the next room, oils, scorched wood, quite light actually. Big medicinal notes too.
Water: Better balance with a drop of water. A bit more smoke and a little more intensity.
Taste: Great very soft arrival, long development, very oily, lime, lots of soot, grapefruit, lemon, sharp sour citrus juice (really good!), white pepper, a little fizzy-esque-ness.
Water: Better here too, more complex, more spicy and dry, more mineral. Chalk, slate and sea salt.
Finish: Long length. Not too complex but oily and sooty.
Bottled 2001. Not nearly as complex as I was expecting, and didn’t meet those big expectations I’m afraid. I think perhaps the Sherry finish just took a little of that complexity off this one. Still bloody good and very drinkable. A step up from the 1976's I've had so it deserves...
90/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Review #552
Whisky Network Review #647
Network Average: 74.7
Best Score: 92
Worst Score: 22
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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