Ardbeg Auriverdes

To start with I'm a big fan of Uigedail and the ten year old Ardbeg. Unfortunately, this one is not good! It totally lacks balance and it is mostly sour and bitter in taste. Despite being an Ardbeg fan I ended up giving this bottle to a friend. Hope he likes it better....

NOSE: the best part of the whisky. There is ofcourse a good dose of peat and smoke, some distans fruitiness and a tone of Sugar. TASTE: sharp, smoky, bitter and some bad influence from wood (tannins) makes it unfriendly FINISH: the sour and bitter tones are too present. Not a good finish either unfortunately.

This whisky was a disappointment. Considering the price I paid for it I feel ripped off and I will most likely not buy any other Ardbeg except Uigedail and the ten year old for quite a while - at least not without reading some very good reviews before.

There are some major problems with this whisky. The sourness and the tannins is definately not good. The worst problem though is the lack of balance.

All together I give this whisky a 61, which means I consider it being a crappy whisky. I cannot in any sense recommend it and it is the frist time I have given away an open bottle of whisky. Ardbeg should compensate me for this crap...

Ardbeg is undoubtedly one of the most well-known and beloved malt whisky distilleries in the world. Founded by Alexander Stewart, Ardbeg’s first record as a distillery dates back to 1794, and commercial production began in 1815. During its long history the distillery was closed down on a number of occasions only to be reopened again by new owners each time. After having been mothballed in 1981 the distillery resumed production in 1989 and continued at a low level through to July 1996 when it closed again until the following year. In 1997 Ardbeg distillery was acquired by Glenmorangie plc (who shortly thereafter were taken over by Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) and production resumed. Ardbeg Auriverdes was released as limited edition for Ardbeg Day 2014. It was matured in American oak casks that came with specially toasted lids: one cask head was toasted lightly (to invoke vanilla flavours), the other one more dark (to invoke mocha coffee flavours). ‘Auriverde’ is a Portuguese term that describes the combination of ‘auri’ (meaning “golden”) and ‘verde’ (meaning “green”).

The nose is grassy and fruity. I got flavours of moss and wet grass, followed by rather light lemon and vanilla notes. Then there was soft peat smoke that developed into rich notes of tar and rubber tire. This is not Ardbeg’s boldest nose but it is complex and multifaceted.

The palate is full-bodied, spicy and intensely smoky. There now are distinct medicinal notes, accompanied by vanilla and lemon flavours. Towards the end coffee and leather make an appearance.

The finish is long and warming and dominated by ashy and tarry flavours. Some salt and lemon flavours round this off. A great finale to this whisky!

This year’s Ardbeg special release belongs to the better ones, in my opinion. I am not sure what exact effects the two different toasted lids were meant to have on the whisky, but the overall result is rather convincing. I especially liked the nose – that was less boastful than that of Ardbeg’s core range malts but that was satisfyingly complex – and the finish that ticked the right boxes. My expectations might not have been high but this one worked for me.

Ardbeg Auriverdes is the 2014 Ardbeg Day bottling. Green and gold are the colours of Brasil, at which the 2014 World Cup was held. 'Saudade' is the one word which describes the very soul of Brazil. Pronounced in Rio de Janeiro "sow dodgee", the word means nostalgic longing. Merely saying this word will touch the heart of almost every Brazilian. Almost all expatriate Brasilians have some degree of 'saudade do Brasil'.

The reviewed sample was compliments of @Nock, from a bottle 1/3 full and open 11 weeks

Nose: nice strong-intensity sharply-edged nose; there is plenty of peat and smoke, but some very nice sweet brown sugar, almost thickened maple-syrup. I am getting some pear and apple fruitiness, along with noticeable caramel and vanilla, more of these last two than I usually notice on Ardbeg noses. I am loving this nose

Taste: I wish that this nose translated to the palate. I do not find that it does. The palate is big on burnt caramel combined with bitter peat and smoke. Wood tannins seem huge here. There is a slight touch of wine influence. The palate moves more toward the sour and bitter midway through the delivery

Finish: plenty of flavour, but it is strongly sour and bitter, with some soft sweetness in the background. The resulting combination is neither balanced nor delicious

Balance: no, this is not very balanced. Peat lovers can love the heavy peat flavours. This one rates pretty low for me among Ardbegs, though I do love the nose. Strong flavours and plenty of peat and smoke are not enough to make me love this whisky

(Water added fuses both the nose and palatal flavours. It does not improve the flavours.)

When I first heard about Ardbeg Auriverdes being associated with football, I thought Green Street Hooligans or Football Factory. But after I tasted Auriverdes, it was more like Shaolin Soccer. And I mean it in a good way. This one's more into the technique than into straight forward kick ass style.

Slightly different from other Ardbegs, still keeping on with the quality standards of the famous Islay distillery. Great whisky.

Nose: Vanilla and citrus fruits with peat and oak. Smoke is sophisticatedly present.

Taste: Medicinal and fruity. Peachy with floral touch, very juicy sweet and smooth.

Finish: Fruits fade with peat and sour tones rising.

Balance: Great balance, good dram, usual Ardbeg quality in unusual-Ardbeg palate.

Now that the storm about the new Ardbeg had died down a bit, I feel comfortable enough to share my tasting notes with you. Auriverdes can be explained as Auri (gold) and Verdes (green), referring to the color of the liquid and the color of the bottle in which it is captured. And of course gold and green are also the colors of the hosting country of the World Cup that is now behind us. Anyway, after loads of PR blurbs, marketing tricks and whatnot, this bottle now easily fetches double of its original retail price of about 90 EUR (which is what I paid for it). Oh, well.

Ah, the nose is classic Ardbeg, so we are off to a good start. Smoked ham, mackerel and salmiak. Mustard seeds? The peat is very outspoken. The fruit is lemon and banana. A touch of moccha. Mildly peppery with some vanilla in the mix. Trace of iodine, hint of espresso and marzipan. Becomes sweeter if you allow it to breath. Yes, this is wonderfully complex and simply delicious.

Pretty spicy on the palate. Before the sweetness feistily explodes (which is will), I get some ginger, pepper, nutmeg and loads of medicinal notes. Wonderful smokiness. Then some bacon on the BBQ and citrus fruit emerge. The citrus becomes grapefruit with a mild bitterness – far from disturbing. Midpalate, at last and as it should be, it becomes quite salty.

Long, sweet finish with earthy notes and a hint of dark chocolate, but at the death I get lemon and sea salt. Grand.

This was a feast! Nice to see that, despite all the PR BS and marketingstunts, the contents of the bottle is absolutely great. This is simply a fantastic, albeit modern (is there any other?), gold & green Ardbeg.

What can I say?

I love Ardbeg, I mean LOVE Ardbeg. It was my first Islay love and holds a special place in my heart due to that.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the Islay distilleries, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, Kilchoman, Caol Ila, if it's got big smoke and peat, then I'm a happy man.

But like I said, Ardbeg holds a special spot in my heart.

So it's with great excitement that I look forward to Ardbeg Day every year. Every year on June 1st our whisky friends at Ardbeg make us happy campers by bottling a "special release"

Galileo which was released in 2012 was easily my favorite Ardbeg to date, and worth every single penny.

And then Ardbog came out, a whisky that I'll soon review, a year after it's release now that everyone and their mom have made up their minds regarding it.

And then just 26 days ago, June 1st, Ardbeg released Auriverdes, a special bottling celebrating the upcoming World Cup. The name in Portuguese means Golden (whisky) "Auri" in Green (bottle) "Verdes". Golden whisky in a green bottle.

It's aged in second fill American ex bourbon barrels, with heavy charring on the lids, designed to create a mocha flavor in the whisky.

In theory this release is around 6600 bottles from what I can find online, it was distilled in 2002, which puts it around 11 or 12 years old.

And rounding it all out, it retails for around $200 AUS.

My wife and I recently flew out to Whisky Live in Sydney Australia and while over there I visited quite a few bottleshops who are run by friends and acquaintances. While I was visiting the guys at the World of Whisky, they offered me a dram of the Ardbeg Auriverdes.

Let me at it!

Well first off it's a pale golden color and it's in a green bottle so it fulfills the name requirements right there.

The nose has heaps of vanilla, mocha, chocolate, citrus oranges, a little bit of bbq meat, light peat and smoke.

Seriously is this Ardbeg? It is so very light. Not bad, but not what I expected!

Let's give it a taste and see what happens.

Vanilla again, lots of vanilla, mocha, mangoes and peaches, black pepper and light peat again.

A very soft, but lingering finish with more vanilla and then at the very end the vanilla fades leaving smoke behind.

Well how do I say this?

What the hell....seriously what the hell?!

People are running around losing their heads over this whisky and this, THIS is what they're going nuts for. A whisky that tops out at 12 years max, mild and inoffensive, that runs $200 or so a bottle?!

That's it, I've lost the plot. For the last two years all I hear from the whisky world is people bitching about no age statement whiskies, how they're going to be overpriced and under deliver and yet these same people are running around losing their heads over the newest and greatest Glenmorangie and Ardbeg release?!

I love Ardbeg, I cant stress that enough, and I enjoy Glenmorangie, but I've got to be honest, I'm tired of seeing whiskies that I know, KNOW, are 10 and 12 years old sell for $180 and $200 a bottle. Just because they've got a cool story behind it. I mean people complained about the Glenfiddich Snow Phoenix running at $100 a bottle here in Australia, but these same people have no problem throwing down $200 on a Ardbeg or Glenmorangie?!

Let's bring things back into perspective folks, shall we? No age statement whiskies can ROCK, the forementioned Snow Phoenix, Aberlour Abunadh, Ardbeg Corryvrackin, Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX etc, and I'm happy to throw down some serious cash on them as they can be absolutely brilliant, but what was different from all of those whiskies and this latest release from Ardbeg?

The price point! Most of those whiskies started out selling for $100 or thereabouts, and yes prices did rise over the following years. But they didnt start out selling for $200 a bottle.

Pardon me this rant, it's my birthday and I reckon I can get away with one naughty thing today, and I do expect to be shot and executed for taking this stance, but I for one am not on a boycott of them, but all of these newest Glenmorangies and Ardbegs that are overpriced and selling out in seconds as someone who was paid to gave another one of their whiskies World Best Whisky, well from here on out, I don't think I'll be buying any bottles of these whiskies without sampling them first.

If they're worth it, I'll happily pay every penny, however if it's overpriced mediocre whisky, I'll at least saved myself $200.

Rant off.

This was the final dram for our Ardbeg Day 2014 celebration. Crazy pairing with what my cousin, the chef, called a Duck Egg Chocolate Eclipse (soft boiled duck egg coated in chocolate plated in caramel and cream nest-insanity).

Color: medium gold

Nose: Immediately interesting to me as a softer take on Ardbeg. Sweet and tart at once, chocolate orange, and smoked almonds right out front. With a little time grilled green peppers and some bacon. Something earthy that might be what I have seen described as coffee. The peat is not the first thing to hit but that sweet incense definitely rises with some time.

Palate: soft and a little thin in terms of body, almost effervescent, salt, vanilla, peat and citrus there. The complexity of the nose was not quite delivered here.

Finish: long with pepper and peat throughout, but still soft throughout.

Overall: this one got my attention for the change up in approach. It is a gentler dram. I would place it somewhere between Blasda and the standard 10 year old in terms of "impact." Not quite the gentle thunder of the Airigh Nam Beist, but it seemed to be reaching in that direction-which probably gets some extra love from me. Value is a good question-got this for $80 US which works for those of us with unreasonable tendencies toward this distillery. I think I will get a few stashed as I like to try and have a nice "spread" of Ardbegs for our family Ardbeg tastings. That said, I do long for a special release with the jaw dropping qualities of the "Oogie" or the "Beast."

Food note: The sweet dessert with the lighter whisky worked okay.

I tried a few glasses of the new Auriverdes at Ardbeg Day yesterday in Oregon City. A dram was only $10 at the Highland Stillhouse for one day only, a real bargain! Here are my tasting notes:

Color: A shade darker than standard Ardbeg 10 year (which is pale straw).

Nose: Caramel nougat, vanilla bean, toasted malt, smoked ham, clotted cream, wet moss.

Palate: More caramel, light peat, pine needles (mild), some phenols (mild), a little more vanilla.

Finish: Medium in length; marshmellow, ash, peat, hardwood smoke, caramel.

Comments: This is fairly mild for an Ardbeg. If given this blind folded without having tasted it prior to the taste test, I would not have identified it as Ardbeg. It does not have the typical full bodied flavor of an Ardbeg and the complexity doesn't compare to the cask strength Uigeadail. This said, it's a very enjoyable dram. I gladly drank a few glasses yesterday at Ardbeg Day and would have had a third if not for the temptation to order an Alligator (one of my all-time favorites).

It's that time of the year again, folks! When emotions trump logic. When clear thinking is clouded. When, like crack addicts, we go insane for that one hit we have been waiting for since June 1 of last year.

I am, of course, talking about Ardbeg's yearly Festival Release. This years' must-have bottling is called the AuriVerdes.

'Auri' means gold and 'Verdes' means green. Which is basically to say there is gold liquid inside this green bottle. In Portugese. Not terribly creative I admit. It's also the name of the Brazilian football team and, with the World Cup just around the corner, this is quite possibly a lawsuit in the making.

Let's hope FIFA doesn't bankrupt Ardbeg. How would we spend our hard earned cash on mediocre whiskies, otherwise?

This one has seen quite a different maturation process compared to other Ardbegs. The casks are American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels with normal Bourbon specification charring. Once in Scotland the heads were replaced with new American oak heads treated to a particular (and secret) toasting regime.

These re-worked barrels were then filled with spirit and ultimately blended together with Ardbeg from 1st and 2nd fill Bourbon barrels.

The idea was that the different wood elements would each lend their unique flavor profiles and create an entirely new flavor profile.

Did they succeed in a creating a unique flavored Ardbeg? Yes. Is it fantastic? Nope.

Nose: Very herbacious and heathery. Looking at the pale olive liquid in the glass one need not be surprised. The peat is subdued amid the vanilla butterscotch and stewed fruit. Some garam masala finds it's way towards the end as well. The aromas are there but just not confident enough to create a lasting impression.

Palate: Quite thin and weak in my opinion. Very unlike an Ardbeg should be. Maybe they're going for a newer audience that likes their whiskies unchallenging. Spicy spearmint with the same ashy greens as the nose. Maybe a chocolate pear in there too.

Finish: Medium with a touch of spice.

Had it at a tasting recently and a majority of Ardbeg fans in the room turned their noses up. As an avid anti-marketing whisky fan it pains me to see my favorite distillery riding on the back of it's cult status and cool gimmicks instead of really focusing their blood and guts into making their whiskies the best in the world.

Which they were. And can still be.

Till then I will continue to be a fanboy and buy what ever it is they produce. But I suspect even die hard fans have their patience.

Ardbeg - what can I say. Personally I'm tiring of the hype a little bit. Committee this and super special committee that and silly prices. But anyway....

This was sampled along with a number of much older Ardbeg's at our recent tasting session.

Is it good? Yes. Personally I prefer it over the Uigeadail.

Nose: Well it's all tars and engine oils, followed with a little tart apple skin maybe a hint of smoked lemon (do they do this), some kind of unusual resin vanilla, coal or charcoal and antiseptic (but not the TCP Lagavulin kind). Interesting.

Palate: One of our members described it (quite humorously) as the following. Imagine lighting a bonfire on a stony gravel beach in West Cork (Ireland). Leave it burn for a bit using both coal and wood. Lob in a few Cuban cigars. Then put out the bonfire using a combination of lemon juice, apple juice, old engine oil, salt and antiseptic. Leave it cool down. Scope up the ashesremains, mix with water and drink!

Finish: Long, dry, ashy and some kind of smoked nuts. Not sure which kind though....

Final verdict. Yes it good. I'm sure it will fly off the shelves. It's a NAS and that is apparent - if you look hard enough. This would probably be stunning as an 18 year old.