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Ardbeg Lord of the Isles

Average score from 3 reviews and 7 ratings 92

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles

Product details

  • Brand: Ardbeg
  • Bottler: Unknown
  • ABV: 46.0%
  • Age: 25 year old

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@SquidgyAsh
Ardbeg Lord of the Isles

So my wife and I had finally got to to Helvetica, the local whisky bar, after MONTHS of trying to.

Anything and everything that could come up, DID. Lack of money, lack of my wife and I having the same days off, getting the same days off, but they're closed, public holidays, sickness of me, sickness of my wife, and to top it all off, our friend who was supposed to join us needing an emergency appendicitis surgery the day before we went (Carlin this review is for you!)

After ALL of this my wife and I finally managed a date night which was going to turn into a whisky tasting night.

We'd started dinner out with Glenfarclas 12 yr old, then went to Helvetica and tried Yamazki 12 yr old, Hakushu 12 yr old, Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, and Amrut Fusion while waiting for my sister and brother in law.

Once they arrived we moved to Glenorangie Astar, Aberlour Abunadh, Old Potrero 18th Century Rye, and Ardbeg Corryvreckin.

That was supposed to end the night. However as I was taking care of the bill I saw lo and behold Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance and Ardbeg 25 Lord of the Isles.

My wife is an awesome wife and allowed me to go ahead and go over budget with the Renaissance and Lord of the Isles.

We finished the Renaissance and then I went up all weak kneed to order Lord of the Isles. I'm certain the entire time that they'll inform me that I'm sadly mistaken, that they're out of it or I'm not worthy of such as awesome whisky.

I go up to the bartender and place my order and I'm grinning the entire time and I comment to him "Do you realize what bottle this is here?! This is like a 800-1000 dollar bottle right here!!"

Brilliant! I don't care if it's $50 a shot, I can't wait to try this!!!

I get my glass and head to the table where we pass it around and all nose it reverently.

This is not your typical Ardbeg! I knew this going in, but I just got slapped in the face with the proof!

The nose a little bit of peat and smoke covered up by lots of fruits. Mainly apples, hints of pears, a little bit of citrus notes.

VERY LOVELY!

I can't wait to take a sip of this!!!

I take a sip and it is fruity, with the apples and pears, vanilla, hints of cherry, tobacco, sea air, peat and smoke wafting in the background. HOLY SWEET BABY JEBUS!!!!

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!

The finish is Loooong, sweet, gentle, with hints of smoke in the background.

This is not your normal Islay whisky. This is a whole new ball game!

Everyone loved this whisky, it was the highlight of the night and this whisky is exemplified by this video right here www.youtube.com/watch. That's what drinking this whisky was like.

However at close to $1000 AUS and having to import it this awesomeness doesn't come cheap. I will be trying this one again, even at $50 bucks a pop!

All in all Family Whisky Fun Time was brilliant with the crowd favorites being Aberlour Abunadh, Hakushu 12 yr old, Old Potrero 18th Century Rye, and Ardbeg Renaissance and Lord of the Isles!

Good answer! =D

I don't know that I could spend $50 on a dram even. Had the chance to have some Port Ellen (PE-3 I think it might've been) but I passed that up when it was over $40 for a dram.

Having said that, for a $700 bottle (as an example) with 24 standard drinks (for argument's sake) that's $30 per dram x 1.6 = $46 so the pricing is probably about right on the Lord of the Isles, presuming they could get it for about $700 wholesale.

(I pulled the 1.6 multiplier out of a hat and have no idea whether that's an appropriate markup for alcohol but it seems to be a multiplier seen in other retail sectors).

Hahaha my friend I dont blame you. I think the reason I don't mind spending that on the occasional shot is that first I tend to know / have a good idea how awesome that whisky is supposed to be. But more then that is my wife and I almost never go out, so when we do my wife doesn't usually mind if I go a little nuts on dram prices haha. Had another $50 in Melbourne several times, once was a 1950 SMW and another one was one of those insane high end Chivas. We gotta live a little you know?! :D:D:D:D:D

@jdcook

Recently a friend of mine, his father-in-law and I had a tasting session. We actually went through 13 drams in one sitting. A long but very good night! The whiskies we went through in order were Bushmills Black Bush, Macphail's Collection Bunnahabhain 1990 (bottled in 2006), Bruichladdich 10 year old (bottled in 1979), Ardbeg Blasda, Port Ellen 25 year old (distilled 1980 bottled 2006), Bowmore 1956 (distilled in 1956, bottled in 1983), Glenfiddich 15 year old, Gordon and MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Ardbeg 13 year old (distilled in 1972), Ardbeg 10 year old, Ardbeg Lord of the Isles, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Gordon and MacPhail Caol Ila 16 year old (distilled in 1969) and the Ardbeg Supernova. Over the next few days I will be writing up my notes. I won't be re-reviewing those malts I've already reviewed, but there are plenty of new ones.

This particular bottle of Arbeg Lord of the Isles was purchased a few years ago, and finally opened for this tasting. This was the other bottle besides the Bowmore 1956 that I was really looking forward to getting into. Unfortunately this came straight after the Bowmore, and pretty much any whisky was going to be a let down after that extraordinary dram!

The nose is gentle and warm, with wafts of dried fruits (especially dried apricot) and honey over the top of peat, smoke and sea air. Really soft, smooth and heart warming.

The taste is light and refreshing, with a bright cinnamon note giving way to vanilla, toffee and some floral notes, before a light gentle wave of peat, smoke and sea salt rolls through. Unusually refreshing!

The finish is long, warm, but gentle and light! Full of peat, smoke, and toffee notes, with hints of dried fruits.

This was genuinely surprising, I was expecting an Islay monster, but got a refreshing summer malt. Consistent, gentle, complex, mature and very moreish.

This is a genuinely fantastic whisky. That said, it did follow the Bowmore 1956, so it was a let down. It's not often I would say that about a 9.5 rated malt...

@WhiskyNotes

Nose: starts quite shy and mostly fruity. After being warmed up, it shows a remarkably gentle and elegant character. Very leathery, with mellow peat smoke, orange marmalade, yellow apples, marzipan, warm cake… Subtle hints of boat rope and tar. A light layer of earthy and farmy notes. Some tobacco. Overall very complex, very integrated and a masterpiece of balance. Jim Murray says there’s a light soapiness on the nose – I don’t agree, although there’s a noticeable floweriness.

Mouth: still quite some fruits, a tad more tropical and sweeter than on the nose (lime). More peat and smoke now. Leather and tobacco again. Walnuts. Some spices (pink pepper). Lightly salted.

Finish: long, drier, smoky and slightly medicinal. Hints of chalk.

This dram is so beautiful it almost brought a tear to my eye when I tasted it at the distillery. Based on that experience I'd say 8.5 is far too low, but obviously I'll have to retaste it under more mundane circumstances before writing a contesting review.

I have 3 bottles of this, you can get it, but it is getting ever more expensive, mine were about £70 but I believe it is about £200 now. A very mature and mellow Ardbeg, it is great compared next to Very young, Still Young and Almost there!

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