Ardbeg Uigeadail

Do you mind sharing the batch number of the bottle you are drinking from?

L12 134

It seems I have a chance to get this batch-- but for a 50% higher price than recent L14 batches. Any opinion or words of wisdom, from your experience?

@vanPelt. I have tried 3 different batches and the L12 134 was the best of them. However, having said that, I think 50 % more is a steep price. It depends on where you are in your Uigeadail experience? If you've tried many batches I might recommend you to consider the steep price, since it's a really good batch. However, if you're new on the Uigeadail I would go for the cheaper.

Maltmaniacmate: what were the other two batches you have tried, besides L12 134? And what rating score would you place on each of those?

Don't know the batch numbers since it was at tastings. I would rate them in the upper 80's.

Thanks @Maltmaniacmate ! Well, I've had several, including L12 206 and L10 151, so I don't want a substandard one.

So I might just spring for the L12 134, then. I hope it is more on the "sherry-fruity & charry-smoke"-side of things, rather than "lemon-juice and iodine"... I really don't like sourness or excessive iodine.

It certainly is on the "sherry-fruity & charry smoke" side of things. Looking forward to a hearing your thoughts on this batch!

Got it! I also saw it got the 4th highest ranking among 10 batches in 2012, according to whiskybase: whiskybase.com/whisky/39423/… It's noticeably darker than the L10 151, and the nose is closer to the L12 206 I remember: charry, floral, and some chili-powder sauce. There is quite a smack of iodine throughout the palate, I think more than I remember in the other 5 batches I've had-- closer to a Laphroaig that way. It's less malty than a recent L14 batch I tasted, and heavier in peat influence. Of course I can't settle judgement from the first dram, I'll have to come back to it and see how the iodine treats me. This strikes me as showing the strength people expect from a good Uigeadail. Thanks for the guidance!

Okay, last thoughts on this batch: I did a comparative tasting tonight, pitting this against the L12 206 and L10 151. The L10 151 is the oddball, with grapier and lemony-salt notes, less iodine. My old L12 206 had a strange duality, with soft pitted fruits on the one hand, and tabasco sauce (spicy-heat) on the other. What's interesting about this L12 134 is that it doesn't really have either of those, but they get blended into what I find "chili powder". I guess I could like more fruits, whereas here they are kind of hidden behind the big smokiness, but this is anyway a good batch for sure. It does have more iodine than other batches, but this only gets obvious when you add water-- which I find is often the case with Islays. So this is one to drink closer to full strength, where it also has a nice thick honey-ness in the palate.