Ardbeg Uigeadail
L11 031 09:05 6ML
1 593
Review by @mystycreek
- Nose22
- Taste23
- Finish24
- Balance24
- Overall93
Show rating data charts
Distribution of ratings for this:
I tried to find some older batches and came across this a year ago, so didn't hesitate to pick it up because the price is quite reasonable and the batch seem to be a good one. When I first opened it, I found this bottle has probably got some problem with sulfur, but didn't really trouble me besides can't drinking too much at a time, which will make me dizzy. After a few months the sulfur problem seemed to be unnoticeable.
This bottle has been opened for about 15 months.
Nose: Fresh lemon peels, old sherry, fruit candy and honey. Very luring and I can feel there's heat inside.
Palate: Sweet and oily, quite soft for its high ABV. Dark chocolate, leather, peat, sea salt, burnt wood and basil. Bitter-sweet symphony.
Finish: Dry, salty, bitter and long. Barley, earth, ash and caramel. Long and warm, good smoky tone.
Balance: What a crazy peat party dancing in my mouth. From sweetness to bitterness, from fruit and honey to salt and ashes, always changing but consistent.
Overall: What a great whisky. So easy to drink with so much flavor. It's sad to know the recent batches seem to be declining on quality, like Lagavulin 16, Old Pulteney 17, Talisker and other whiskies which used to be great. Although digging out good stuff is a lot of fun, but running out of good whiskies is not good news at all.
Thanks for the reviews in connosr which led me to this bottle, I will still check the reviews first if I wanna get a new one......
Find where to buy Ardbeg whisky
@mystycreek, thanks for your review.
Interestingly this reviewed bottle was bottled 3 days after @Nock's favourite batch, L 11 028. This leads me to believe that this one is likely from the same vatting of barrels/casks, just 3 days later. L 11 028 is a great one, so I am not surprised to see high quality out of L 11 031.
It is interesting that you mention sulphur. When sulphur is present in peaty/smokey sherried malts, it usually is somewhat muted and disguised-- if not actually chemically altered-- by the peat influence. The result is often called "dirty peat". Some of us actually enjoy a little "dirty peat", as long as the dirtiness is limited. I think that the character of the sulphur is actually altered by the peat, a bit like activated charcoal or the activated-charcoal-like effect of the charring of barrels chemically neutralises many noxious chemicals.
So for me, sulphur against sherry without peat is usually intolerable, whereas some, even moderate, sulphur against heavy peating is often quite tolerable, even delicious. So far, I haven't really notised sulphur in any Ardbegs, but I will be looking for it in the future.