Ardbeg 15 Years Cadenhead 1994

There's a certain old school way of making single malt whiskies that I really like. No frills. Just good old-fashioned traditional whisky making.

Distill some quality spirit. Stick it in a high quality bourbon cask. Let it sit and pull out all the flavors. Don't mix it with any other liquid to balance out any flavors. Serve it at cask strength. Sit back and enjoy.

I miss those days. Of whisky making, that is. I'm not old enough to miss those actual days. But I sure as hell can appreciate them. Which brings me to my first ever Cadenhead whisky. It is also my first ever independent Ardbeg. And most importantly it is my first ever single cask Ardbeg.

So there's a lot of special firsts here for me. And I tell you this is well worth the occasion.

There's not a lot of literature for this particular bottling (most independents are notoriously difficult to get info on) and so the only thing I know is that this was distilled in 1994, bottled in February 2010, matured exclusively in a bourbon hogshead for 15 years and served at a cask strength of 56%.

Nose: Peat. Grist. Lemon. Lime. Citrus. Fruits. Melon. It's very sweet. Crystallised sugars. Cigar ash. Vanilla. Liquorice. Barley. Oak. Toast. Smoked oysters. Green apple. Reminds me of the Still Young when I first had it. Same controlled peaty elegance. Also very similar to the recent spate of young Kilchomans that I've been tasting. This is a beautiful nose. Something very old-fashioned about it.

Palate: Lemon. Spices. The delivery is quite sharp. Sponge cake. All spice. Mid-palate it starts to get a little burnt. Oak. Cigar leaf. Quite salty. But very crisp. Young green apple crisp.

Finish: Long. Oak. Spices. There's something mildly bitter here.

I love whiskies like this. Straight up no nonsense. No maturing in ten different casks with ten different types of vatting. No marketing BS. Let the spirit speak, I say, if you're brave enough.

Also makes me realize why Ardbeg is cult. All the stock from the 90s that I've tasted is insane. Why are they having such a hard time re-creating the magic? Why?

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