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Ardbeg Rollercoaster

Good but slightly over-hyped

0 785

@WhiskyNotesReview by @WhiskyNotes

4th Mar 2010

0

  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    85

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Nose: briney and coastal, with notes of smoked sardines with a few drops of lemon. It’s easy to detect the youthful power and the sweet notes that go with it (pear, artificial hints of banana) but there’s enough older stuff in there to get the balance right. A lot of iodine. A few musty elements. Nutmeg and cumin. Mint. Quite industrial in a way. Water brings out vanilla and fragrant notes.

Mouth: not the most impressive mouth-feel given its strength, but the big wave of peat smoke is certainly present. The first things I get are signs of its youth which are then overtaken by liquorice, lemon and coal. Gets curiously vegetal and herbal after a while (aniseed, eucalyptus, coriander leaves?). Some very dark chocolate. Water makes it slightly grassier and more rubbery.

Finish: long on chilli peppers and briney smoke. Slightly bitter cloves.

Full review: whiskynotes.be/2010/ardbeg/…

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7 comments

@scribe
scribe commented

Sounds great to me - I'm getting more into the vegetal flavours - damp wood and dry fungus and all that. With dark chocolate in? Can't wait to try this...

Any ideas for matching food? :)

14 years ago 0

@markjedi1
markjedi1 commented

Sounds wonderful. I hope my bottles will arrive this week.

14 years ago 0

@jdcook
jdcook commented

Most reviews of this dram say it is good, but over-hyped. What is the price like?

14 years ago 0

@WhiskyNotes
WhiskyNotes commented

£ 50 + shipping (only available on the Ardbeg website at the moment)

14 years ago 0

@jdcook
jdcook commented

For that amount of cash there would seem to be quite a few other drams getting better reviews...

14 years ago 0

@markjedi1
markjedi1 commented

True enough. But then, Ardbeg has a reputation as well, and I guess you pay for that.

14 years ago 0

@jdcook
jdcook commented

That's true @markjedi but Ardbeg has a reputation for a reason, and this dram seems to fall just a little short of Ardbeg's usual standards...

14 years ago 0

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