Ardbeg Uigeadail Batch Notes

@Victor @Nock

Thanks for your input. I agree that opening, drinking, comparing, enjoying all sound great.

The big issue is one of time. I have a LOT of bottles patiently waiting to be opened. I also want to have the right people with me. So getting around to it may take a while.

The other issue is cost. If I lived anywhere else a bottle of this stuff would be affordable. But here, the cost to get another bottle would be prohibitive.

So maybe in a few months, or years.....

L11 284 -92, L13 177 - 84. I enjoyed the L11 so much, obviously I was shocked and disappointed when I opened the L13 and found a very different whisky. L13 is flat & overly woody, lacks the waxiness and BBQ flavors in the L11. It's just just a bruising experience at 54.1 w/out the brilliant flavors and mouthfeel.

I'm excited to try my L11 028 in the next few months

@indynoir thanks for providing the info! I am glad to have a different opinion on batch L11 284.

And I am even more delighted to get information on batch L13 177. So far I have tried two batches from 2013 and both have been disappointing. Sounds like 2013 was a bad year for Uigeadail. Currently the shelves at my local store are empty of Uigeadail. I hope the next batch is from 2014 and starts us off with something good!

Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2% L13 149. My score 85. Very light in color, sour, and spirity. It has high sweet saccharin sweetness on the tongue but with bitterness on the back. It had a big finish when it was fresh, but after a few months of being open the power is gone. This is the most disjointed Uigeadail I have tried. Save your money.

I am wondering if batch L13 149 is the same vatting of casks as L13 177 that @indynoir just told us about. I have heard of Ardbeg letting batches sit in the vatting tank after they were vatted for some time between bottlings. And since there were only 28 days between L13 149 and 177 . . . I could easily see them being the same vatting.

I definitely think that L13 149 is my least favorite Uigeadail ever.

@Bigtuna; what did you think of your L12 331 bottle? Just checked the batch code on my bottle, purchased around 10/1/2013 in Traverse City Michigan and it also is coded L12 331 1350. Just curious as to your opinion of this particular bottle. Have yet to open mine as I opted for a bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel 2013 while celebrating my birthday in the Copper Harbor region of Michigan.

@cherylnifer I recently just finished a bottle of the L12 331. I actually had a bottle of the L13 58 open at the same time. I found them almost identical, except the L12 was a little sweeter, and a little better in my opinion, than the L13. If you look at Noch's second post in this thread, he reviews the L13 58 and I agree with what he says there.

Ardbeg Uigeadail is my favorite whisky, and I have had four bottles in the last couple years. In my opinion, these two I've mentioned were great, but not as good as the two I had before: a L12 253 and an older one I did not notice the bottling date of. The older two had a richer, more satisfying sherry influence.

I also have an unopened L9 97, which I am saving for I do not know what.

But please don't think you have an inferior bottle of whisky on your hands. On most nights I would rather drink that bottle of L12 331 you have than any other whisky not called Uigeadail.

Just for information's sake, and much to my delight, the price of Uigeadail in NYC is now down to $72/bottle. I have seen it as high as $103.

Cheers.

@McTeague many thanks for the reassuring words. I had been looking forward to purchasing my first bottle of Uigeadail for quite some time but always found some other well-recommended and less expensive whisky to purchase. Then, after taking the leap, afew less-than-favorable reviews were posted, with particular emphasis on post-2011 bottlings of Uigeadail. For a while, I was wondering if I make a poor decision before even opening and sampling my bottle for myself. Guess that shows how new I am to this enjoyable pastime.

@cherylnifer Thanks and please be sure to let us know how it goes. Hopefully you'll take a liking to it.

I could also mention that I think Uigeadail is one of those whiskies that can really open up and improve as you get to the bottom of the bottle. The last bottle I had, I swear the last glass in the bottle was as good as any I've had. Just heaven.

Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2% L13 245. My score 94. I have tasted it 5 times now, and will taste it one more time before I post my “final take” on this bottle. This one seems to have a medium strong sherry influence – the sherry takes on a very complimentary role to the peat and lemon. Complex with lots going on in the mid range. This isn’t one of my favorite Uigeadail batches. The other night I found myself going for a standard Ardbeg 10yo over this one. However, this is a good batch. Heck, it is the best batch I have tasted from 2013 (I like this one and will buy more).

Just a bump to this discussion inorder to encourage members who have yet to post their Ardbeg Uigeadail batch number(s) and personal review / opinion / rating of that particular batch. I know that the information shared on this forum is invaluable to me, and I would hope for other members too.

I could use some help deciphering a recent Ardbeg Uigeadail purchase I made in downstate Michigan. My first Uigeadail purchase had the batch code format of the letter L prefix followed by two digit year code the three digit batch code. The bottle of Uigeadail I purchased last night has a very faint code of 12010437 where the batch code resides on other Uigeadail bottles. But no L prefix. This format similar to that used foa Macallan cask strength batch codes. I am baffled as to why the different batch number format. Ideas anyone?

@ nock -L13 245 is the bottle I currently have open. Good to know you like this batch as I have little experience with Uigeadail. I'd hate to miss out on a good whisky by tasting a lesser batch. Many thanks for getting the batch info out!

@cherylnifer that is actually the internal quality control number. Keep looking on the back of the bottle. Try the other side from where you see the current number. I have been finding the L number under the embossed word "Limited."

if that doesn't work I have occasionally found it on the front of the bottle near the very bottom.

@bijalon Do give us a short review of L13 245. We would love to hear another take on that batch. And I totally get the desire to have a good or representative version of a particular bottle. Glad to be of some help.

Nock , my friend, you rock. Right where you suggested, below the embossed LIMITED on the back. Pleased with the results. Two companion L12 331 bottles to go with my first bottle purchased last last and 245 miles away. Really enjoying the first bottle of L12 331. Surprised me. Lighter in weight and intensity than I expected. Expected something more like the Laphroaig 18 match up. But complex at same time. This batch quietly serious. Even my not whisky friends really liked it

I plan on buying another bottle of uigeadail next week and will report back. A 2014? Who knows. It's still my favorite whisky.

A while back I purchased a Signatory bottling of Highland Park 21 year old that I think spent a little too long in the wood. It was a little tired. A drop of Uigeadail was just what it needed to take it from disappointing to delicious!

@Nock - Thanks again for recommending L13 245 to me. I concur with your notes and score. My brother-in-law and I opened this bottle at a recent family reunion. We enjoyed it several times over the weekend and each time found ourselves commenting on how good it is.

L13 245. This will be an amateur opinion at best as my experience is limited. The bottle is just under half full and was opened May 24th of this year. Initially the peat and sherry seemed in total unison with complex subtleties. The sherry smelled somewhat winey to a point of sulphurous , yet the peat kept it in check. Now the nose has a deep, sherry soaked wood softness with an underlying sweet, cake like aroma. Lemon cake? I find the peat again in the palate and it follows through into the finish which is now quite the same as standard Ardbeg 10 year old. This is just my beginners take on my current bottle. While some balance seems lost to me, it is still a fantastic dram that scores over 90/100 in my book.

I have picked up a L14 028 this summer (thank you @Victor and the state of Maryland for making it possible!). I likely won't crack this one until late in the fall. I shall give my impressions when I do. In the meantime, I would love to hear from anybody that has opened this, or any other, 2014 bottling.

@bijalon, I just tasted some L13 245 from a sample courtesy of @Nock who was up here visiting the night before last. That is a quality batch, for sure. I am with both you and with @Nock at rating L13 245 at 94 points. That is a batch worth multiple bottles in my book.

@Pudge72, the visiting @Nock picked up a bottle of L14 028 while he was here during one of his Montgomery County restocking runs. He didn't open it while he was here. I imagine he will weigh in on L14 028 before long.

@Nock being @Nock, we drank a lot of Ardbegs on Thursday night...not that drinking a lot of Ardbegs was anything unpleasant to me, either.

Just had a chance to try Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2% L14 028.The color is not as dark as in some earlier batches. Overall not that impressed...something was missing. It appears the first bottle of Uigeadail I tried about a year ago was better.

I managed to track down an L13 245 & L10 075 a while back. After several months I would agree the L13 245 is a nice batch, though I still enjoyed the heavier lemon aspects of 11 284 a little more...but it seems that's a minority opinion. My favorite though is the L10 075. Immediately I noticed much older whisky than I'm accustomed to with this oogy, and was a little disappointed at first without that youthful burn I was accustomed to. However, over time I've really warmed to this more luxurious style of oogy. Fortunately, I bagged 2 bottles.

I'm currently sipping the L5 300 11:29 5ML - which is part of the Peat Pack mini. Quite stunning. Have you had it and, if yes, what are your thoughts?

@MaltActivist I have an unopened bottle of L5 237 (bottled August 25th 2005). It has been about a decade since I drank it's sister bottle (now long gone with no notes made). However, I am quite certain that it was one of these early bottles that set my obsession with Uigeadail.

I know early on they only made a few batches of Uigeadail a year. My guess - only a guess - is that L5 300 could be from the same vatting as L5 237. That, or, it was at the beginning of a new vatting for L5 326 and L5 327 (neither of which made it to the USA).

Glad you are enjoying that old glory. Would love to read your tasting notes.

I was speaking with an Ardbeg representative at the NYC Whisky Live the other night and he mentioned that the latest Uigeadail now includes a substantial addition of whisky aged in French oak casks. That was very apparent from a sampling. But I'll withhold judgement until I've had a few glasses and mulled it over.

Wasn't that the major selling point for the Corryvreckan? Peppery French oak?

Yes, definitely more spicy and peppery like the Corrie now.

But why converge the two?

Making way for that new release one has been hearing about perhaps? A new sherried NAS I believe