Ardbeg Auriverdes

Now that the storm about the new Ardbeg had died down a bit, I feel comfortable enough to share my tasting notes with you. Auriverdes can be explained as Auri (gold) and Verdes (green), referring to the color of the liquid and the color of the bottle in which it is captured. And of course gold and green are also the colors of the hosting country of the World Cup that is now behind us. Anyway, after loads of PR blurbs, marketing tricks and whatnot, this bottle now easily fetches double of its original retail price of about 90 EUR (which is what I paid for it). Oh, well.

Ah, the nose is classic Ardbeg, so we are off to a good start. Smoked ham, mackerel and salmiak. Mustard seeds? The peat is very outspoken. The fruit is lemon and banana. A touch of moccha. Mildly peppery with some vanilla in the mix. Trace of iodine, hint of espresso and marzipan. Becomes sweeter if you allow it to breath. Yes, this is wonderfully complex and simply delicious.

Pretty spicy on the palate. Before the sweetness feistily explodes (which is will), I get some ginger, pepper, nutmeg and loads of medicinal notes. Wonderful smokiness. Then some bacon on the BBQ and citrus fruit emerge. The citrus becomes grapefruit with a mild bitterness – far from disturbing. Midpalate, at last and as it should be, it becomes quite salty.

Long, sweet finish with earthy notes and a hint of dark chocolate, but at the death I get lemon and sea salt. Grand.

This was a feast! Nice to see that, despite all the PR BS and marketingstunts, the contents of the bottle is absolutely great. This is simply a fantastic, albeit modern (is there any other?), gold & green Ardbeg.

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