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Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance

Average score from 7 reviews and 30 ratings 85

Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance

Product details

  • Brand: Ardbeg
  • Bottler: Distillery Bottling
  • ABV: 55.9%
  • Age: 10 year old
  • Vintage: 1998

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@Pierre_W
Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance

Ardbeg ‘Renaissance’ was launched in 2008 as the first 10-year old bottling entirely comprised of whisky produced after the acquisition by Glenmorangie in 1997. I brought a bottle to the last of Ardbeg’s 200th anniversary dinners on 24 October 2015, during which the bottle was consumed almost entirely, leaving just a wee rest from which I put together these tasting notes. By the way, @Nock, there was no code on the bottle.

The nose is smoky and earthy. Next to the smoke that is rather distinct, I detected flavours of milk and porridge, together with notes of lemons and apples. Adding water brings forth more lemons and changes the full-blown smoke into a ‘mellow’ bonfire. A gentle nose indeed!

The palate is medium-bodied and spicy. Smoke now comes in waves across the tongue, followed by vanilla and a touch of lemon. With water the spiciness is reduced and there are more vanilla and lemon flavours, followed by just a hint of banana and chocolate.

The finish is long and warming, smoky and quite dry. There now are very faint notes of coffee and liquorice.

I loved and still love this vintage Ardbeg. It is gentler and less boisterous than most Ardbeg expressions, really very refined. This remains a favourite of mine back from the time when I first became interested in single malt whisky. Too bad that it has become quite expensive to obtain.

@McGrain

It felt to me a little bit that Ardbeg was starting to run away with itself a little bit...hard being a fan of whisky when your favourite distiller releases twenty-five million different bottles (approx.).

This cask strength is good work though.

NOSE: I reckon it zesty rather than lemony and i get something burnt at distance, coal and wood both. It has absolutely not a drop of give. Vapour for days. Very good nose.

MOUTH: More fire upfront, coal rather than peat by my reckoning, a drop of well behaved smoke, with the breath that passes, too. Pepper a little oil, and then the coal and peat come rolling back. Smooth, and as with the nose, there is no give. A spicy, firey invasion of the mouth just as it invaded the nose before. It goes on and on. Burnt, savage.

AFTER: Drys - too much for me. Pepper, and ashes cleaved by spices. The dry aside it's a fantastic experience.

This is overpriced - but as the man wants say, if they want to rob me like this long may it continue.

@SquidgyAsh

So my wife and I had finally got to go to the local whisky bar Helvetica after months of trying. We'd started the night with dinner and a Glenfarclas 12 yr old and when we moved to Helvetica we started with Yamazaki 12 and moved onto Hakushu 12 yr old, Glenmorangie Nectar D'or.

We joined up with my brother and sister in law for some Amrut Fusion, Glenmorangie Astar, Aberlour Abunadh batch 35, Old Potrero 18th Century Rye and were ending the night with Ardbeg Corryvreckin.

But then a problem occurred!

As I was paying the bill I happened to catch a glimpse of a whisky menu that had just been printed...and on it was Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance and Ardbeg 25 yr old Lord of the Isles.

I had specifically budget roughly $150 dollars for this evening. We had spent it. But here staring me in the face is Renaissance and Lord of the Isles!!!

I give my wife puppy dog eyes. My brother in law asks what's so awesome about these two whiskies and I inform him. At which point he gets puppy dog eyes. And then a deal is struck!

Renaissance for him, Lord of the Isles for me. If we run out, we'll buy more!

HUZZAH!!!

Out comes the Renaissance as we squirm in our seats, excited as a boy on his first date.

He hands the glass of Renaissance to me first and says because it's my recommendation and knowledge that I should get to try it first.

The smell is . . . lovely.

The nose is fruity but with the typical Ardbeg aromas of peat, smoke, seaweed and some phenols. The fruit reminds me of cherries, lemons, some honey there. But the cherry comes through strongest.

We pass the glass around, each nosing it. My wife and brother in law come up with chocolate, but I don't get it. Oh well maybe next time!

Again my brother in law hands the glass to me and says I should try the first sip.

Who can say no to an offer like that!?

Not me!

The flavor is AWESOME and yet quite different from the nose. The peat and smoke comes through strongly, but the the lemons and honey, and phenols disappear to be replaced with apples and cherries.

Definitely not what I was expecting from an Ardbeg!

The finish was long with the cherries, apples and smoke carrying us all the way to the end.

This was an AWESOME whisky, which even my wife enjoyed, which was surprising because she doesn't care for any of the Islays.

I have never seen this bottle in Australia and from what I have seen on whisky sites over in the UK it is a hard one to find and odds are I'd expect to pay at least around $200+ AUS and to be honest I think it's worth that price.

Last on the tasting is The Granddaddy of them all!

One Whisky to Rule Them All.

Ardbeg 25 yr old Lord of the Isles.

I have a Rennie open at the moment. There are still a few available in Australia and if you are paying $200 AUS for them you are paying to much. I did a side by side with this and an Almost There and I cant split them. They are both fantastic yet different at the same time.

Wow!! Brilliant!! How much are you charging for a bottle?! Can you send me a PM? I'll likely snag a bottle off you sometime in the near future. I came up with 200ish off a UK site factoring in Customs and Shipping charges. So if I can snag one for cheaper then I'm a happy man!!

@SquidgyAsh

So my wife and I had finally got to go to the local whisky bar Helvetica after months of trying. We'd started the night with dinner and a Glenfarclas 12 yr old and when we moved to Helvetica we started with Yamazaki 12 and moved onto Hakushu 12 yr old, Glenmorangie Nectar D'or.

We joined up with my brother and sister in law for some Amrut Fusion, Glenmorangie Astar, Aberlour Abunadh batch 35, Old Potrero 18th Century Rye and were ending the night with Ardbeg Corryvreckin.

But then a problem occurred!

As I was paying the bill I happened to catch a glimpse of a whisky menu that had just been printed...and on it was Ardbeg 1998 Renaissance and Ardbeg 25 yr old Lord of the Isles.

I had specifically budget roughly $150 dollars for this evening. We had spent it. But here staring me in the face is Renaissance and Lord of the Isles!!!

I give my wife puppy dog eyes. My brother in law asks what's so awesome about these two whiskies and I inform him. At which point he gets puppy dog eyes. And then a deal is struck!

Renaissance for him, Lord of the Isles for me. If we run out, we'll buy more!

HUZZAH!!!

Out comes the Renaissance as we squirm in our seats, excited as a boy on his first date.

He hands the glass of Renaissance to me first and says because it's my recommendation and knowledge that I should get to try it first.

The smell is . . . lovely.

The nose is fruity but with the typical Ardbeg aromas of peat, smoke, seaweed and some phenols. The fruit reminds me of cherries, lemons, some honey there. But the cherry comes through strongest.

We pass the glass around, each nosing it. My wife and brother in law come up with chocolate, but I don't get it. Oh well maybe next time!

Again my brother in law hands the glass to me and says I should try the first sip.

Who can say no to an offer like that!?

Not me!

The flavor is AWESOME and yet quite different from the nose. The peat and smoke comes through strongly, but the the lemons and honey, and phenols disappear to be replaced with apples and cherries.

Definitely not what I was expecting from an Ardbeg!

The finish was long with the cherries, apples and smoke carrying us all the way to the end.

This was an AWESOME whisky, which even my wife enjoyed, which was surprising because she doesn't care for any of the Islays.

I have never seen this bottle in Australia and from what I have seen on whisky sites over in the UK it is a hard one to find and odds are I'd expect to pay at least around $200+ AUS and to be honest I think it's worth that price.

Last on the tasting is The Granddaddy of them all!

One Whisky to Rule Them All.

Ardbeg 25 yr old Lord of the Isles.

@markjedi1

It is well known that Glenmorangie PLC (yes, of the Highland whisky) took over Ardbeg in 1997. They released a series of whiskies to celebrate the rebirth (hence ‘Renaissance’) of the distillery. It started with the Very Young, followed by the Still Young and the Almost There, to be concluded with this 10 years old Renaissance. It is bottled at a cask strength of 55,9%.

Once past the initial alcohol burn, the nose is honey-sweet. Sure, there is iondine and seaweeds and a big chunk of peat, but my olfactory organ’s attention is drawn by the sweetness, that manifests itself in the form of chocolate, nuts and candied fruit! After a few minutes, it becomes very medicinal, like disinfectant. At the end a (totally un-annoying but rather excellent) hint of strawberry bubblegum. I am not making this up. Wait… I am, am I not?

The attack is very hot, very spicy and wonderfully sweet, but peat and even charcoal elbow their way to the front. Very smoky. When that initial wave has passed, apples and vanilla surface. Boy, oh boy, this is the good stuff. Add water? What am I? Nuts?

The finish is once again grandiose in length, sweet and smoky.

I can see why Ardbeg has so many followers. This Renaissance stuff is brilliant! Around 85 EUR.

@I_SPEY

The nose is a typical fruity Ardbeg nose: lemon raspberry/gooseberry jelly mix with the usual vanilla and dry chocolate notes. The taste is vanilla and cinnamon, with lots of peat, but not too heavy and the finish is medium and again the peat, perfect peat.Mmmmmm! Marvellous dram.

Lovely. have you got a bottle of this? i would love a sample trade ;')_

@hojt

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