Looks like Ardbog is here

@CaptinTom same here with the thumbs up. I hit up but got down and I couldn't correct it.

I am having some now. Vanilla, menthol, and wine in the nose. Not my favourtite Ardbeg nose, but ok. This Ardbog is more pointed and focused than Galileo on the palate...it has a nice palatal inital brightness and bite...then the wine becomes strong. I think that the Galileo haters aren't likely to like this one much either. Probably still too much wine for a large group of Ardbeg purists. I like it fine, but I have broader tastes than many.

@DevD What MD liquor store is carrying the Ardbog for $68? The only price I have seen is $100.

@DaveM, Montgomery County Dept of Liquor Control; $ 67.99 x 1.09 = $ 74.11. If you can get to the Darnestown store, I and @Jonathan will see you at 10 am Saturday when it opens. Call 240-773-2028 to try to reserve some. Individual stores will have different access and allocation...you need to call the individual stores if you want some. MAYBE the online inventory reflects the situation at some stores, but you should call the stores.

I've called the local government store and the private store I use all the time that carries a lot of oddities... Doesn't look like either are going to stock the Ardbog. I plan to try a few other private stores, but I'm not hopeful.

This is kind of a dumb question, but I'm planning a holiday in Iceland for the late summer. What's the scotch market like there? I imagine it'll be markedly worse, but you never know.

I attended an Ardbod Day event last night and tasted through a flight of:

10 year Uig Corry Bog

My favorite still is the Uig, next Corry, Bog then the 10 year. The Bog was very sweet and IMO masked the traditional peat/smoke to a great extent. It was good but not as balanced as the Uig.

So not worth $100? I'm having trouble with the idea of dropping over twice the price for what is essentially a designer version of the 10yo. Then again, I do like the 10yo...so maybe it's worth it?

@broadwayblue, Ardbog is not much like the Ten. Would I pay $ 100+? Probably not, but that is a valuation call and not a testimonial that I don't like Ardbog. Ardbog is closer to Galileo, but is a little closer to the classic Ardbeg flavours than is Galileo. Sample it. Find out for yourself.

@Victor, Thanks...I'll track down a dram and take it from there.

@HeartlessNinny Any booze in Iceland is effing expensive. My dad's side of the family is Icelandic. I love vacationing there. The bar scene is awesome in Late August.

@rigmorole Ah, I kind of thought so. But thanks for the tip.

Bought a bottle (1). Could not help myself. Have had a few drinks tonight, and I am happy. Sweet, salty, caramel. Nutty. I think I quite like it...

Happy ARDBOG Day everyone! I celebrated at midnight last night by introducing a friend to the ten yr. I'm traveling so the ARDBOG stayed home for fear of depleting too much on this trip ; but will make up for it with a dram on Sunday night! I'm sure in ISLAY the sheep tossing has already begun!

I try to resist and don't buy the Ardbog! Once again this hype is ridiculous. A well known german online shop is said to start accepting orders today but it's not listed yet. If I see it for say 80€ I can't say if I am strong enough not to order because this bottle soon will cost double the price. Some shops just sell it as a package with the Uigeadail... 200€ No thx guys, I once again skip and only take the Uigea...

And I think lots will buy this only as an investment.

Tasted it today at LMDW (Paris). I quite like it. Bought a bottle.

Bought two bottles of Ardbog today, $79.99. Close to the same price as Ugi and Corry...not a bad deal at all!

I'm afraid I missed out on Ardbog Day, being away with the family. And now it seems I cannot even get hold of a bottle. Darn!

Regarding a vacation in Iceland: Of course the Brennevin in Iceland is relatively inexpensive. Good European beer is plentiful but spendy. As for Brennevin, it's terrible stuff--worse than Jaegermeister.

Bring a few bottles of unusual quality scotch and you will make friends! The Icelanders are hungry for a chance to try new things. You won't probably find many scotch connosrs there, but the people have different skill sets in other ways that is quite charming and cool.

Then again, if you are hanging out with the rich, there will likely be scotch to be had. The middle classes don't drink much scotch in Iceland, especially after the economy collapsed (was engineered by IMF bankers to fail in a typical "bubble" scenario).

I was gifted a bottle - and they say there are no good women left! Opening it now. There is a nice bite on the nose from the neck of this bottle. Something medicinal in there behind the smoky peat...and is that peat a little more like old wood? I think it might be. One year we burned a lot of wood that had been painted and it puts me in mind of that a little bit - maybe that medicinal lilt? You get a dash of wine in the second sniff. There's a LOT happening in this nose from the neck. Let's chuck some in a glass... ...you can smell the alcohol above the peat, not my normal experience with Ardbeg. Something very earthy rather than boggy about it. This is going to be dry i feel.

It IS dry, maybe a little too dry. Feels prickly in the mouth not in a direct way but in a sort of metallic way that makes me feel i'm missing something, that i need an additional instrument to pick up the detail...this is really very dry, i'm not finding the grapes other people seem to have found that wine is all behind the sip. I get that smoky wood feel again, hot in the mouth, a burnt note, burnt toffee maybe? but burnt beyond regnition like the burnt remenants of toffee stuck to a baking tray...a bitter slide out of the sip and a not unpleasant burnt aftertaste. I saw some people wrote "ashes" but it is like something delicious that has been burnt.

This is neither one thing or the other perhaps. It's a bit of a no-man's-land dram. But why shouldn't Ardbeg fill in some of the blanks around that unique taste? Good whisky is where you find it. And this is good whisky. Not great whisky I don't think - hopefully the price drops off a bit.

Looking forwards to what the rest of the bottle has to give though!

Oily, almost syrupy in the mouth, especially if you hold it.

For those without a bottle - there should be some going on sale from regular retailers from June 15th-ish. I don't know how much is going out, but we'll have it on The Whisky Exchange on Monday June 17th.

Sigh (of relief). Got me one today :)

Figured what have I got to lose and asked the guy at the LCBO here in Ontario when we might expect to see this wash up in these parts...and he asked if I meant 'Ardbeg' to which I said 'Ardbog' and he goes 'You sure you don't mean Ardbeg' and I said "It's Ardbog...made by Ardbeg".....

....I suspect we won't see it here for quite some time.

Haha... you're probably right @mrgargus!

@mrgargus. I had the same discussion at my local BC liquor store. "Will you be getting any Ardbog in?" "We have Ardbeg. There's 10, Uigeadail and Galileo over there." "But what about the Ardbog?" "it's called Ardbeg, not Ardbog." "Yeah, but it is a special Ardbeg bottling called Ardbog." "I think you must be confused, the Ardbegs are over there." "Oh, I guess so. Ok, thanks."

I guess I'll be looking elsewhere, maybe in Oregon where I'm going next weekend.

@BlueNote That's funny, I do believe I had the exact same conversation with the liquor rep at the 39th and Cambie location. Talk about frustrating...

The whisky guy at Binny's was kind enough to save me a bottle for a couple of days before I could make the trip to the store. Just posted a review. Very good (a B+plus), but not on the Oogie or Corry level. A little less peat and a little more plastic than promised. But if you like Ardbeg, you probably won't be disappointed.

I reserved a bottle from my next-door electronics and housewares shop (don't worry, it makes sense in Japan), got a little delayed, but I just got home with it. I'm so stoked to be drinking it tonight... also, I'm so susceptible to disappointment the way I'm anticipating it.

@NilsG Let us know how you liked it.

First impression:

Nose: Salty smoked ham. You can clearly smell the wine, a little like cognac actually. Ash tray. And a good dose of peat, obviously.

Flavor: Sweat peat, over burnt salty meat, spicy pepper. Towards the finish there is subtle vanilla, bitter nuts..

Great whisky, but gets a couple of point off for letting the salt and burnt be a little overpowering. Ardbeg has definitely made better whiskies than this before, it doesn't blow my mind, but it's still great and I already think making the purchase was a good decition.

I would say it's fairly complex, but unlike Uigedail all the different components don't come and introduce themselves to me, instead I really have to go and look for them while charcoal-salt is trying to get my attention.