Got a review today of (what used to be) a new official Ardbeg release. I planned on posting my review of this ages ago as I got a bottle as a Christmas present but never got round to it until now.
It’s not often that we get an addition to Ardbeg’s main range and when they do it’s kind of hard to compete with the 10, Oog and Corry. I felt that acutely when I tried Oa, which I thought didn’t quite belong with the others.
This, I’m happy to say, is a different story.
Ardbeg 5 Wee Beastie 47.4%
Colour: Light Gold
Body: Medium/Full
Nose: Intense youthful smoke, quite a bit more medicinal than than 10yo with Calpol and tar, medicine cabinet, toasted malt, mezcal, a little of the new make and a touch of lime zest.
Taste: Plenty of intense smoke first off, quite spicy with white pepper and chilli spice, lots of peat smoke, big mineral component with slate and chalk, quite dry, a little lemon with a bit of the new make spirit-y-ness coming in into the finish.
Finish: Short/Medium length. A burst of citrus, dry, more of the new make again here.
I think this is a fun addition to the Ardbeg line up with a decent price to boot. It's JUST about matured enough to give some interesting notes, but the new make isn't far off and that detracts at times. As I said, fun. And a bit better than the Oa IMO, though not as good as the 10.
76/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Review #866
Whisky Network Review #1040
Network Average: 75.2
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
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 the Global 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 I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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