Ardbeg Islay Single Malt 10 year old (46%)

(Tomorrow is Robbie Burns Day, and what better way to celebrate than with a peaty classic from the Scottish island of Islay? Read on for more…)

Unlike the Deanston malt reviewed yesterday, Ardbeg is both a whisky and a distillery with which I am very acquainted. For whatever reason, however, at no time during the two and a half year lifespan of Beaumont Drinks have I gotten around to reviewing it. Until, of course, now.

To the cadre of whisky drinkers who prize the peatiest of whiskies, so-called ‘smokeheads’ or ‘peatheads,’ Ardbeg is the ne plus ultra of Islay spirits. In fact, until the rise of Bruichladdich and Kilchoman in the aughts, the LVMH-owned company’s whiskies stood alone as having the highest measurable peat influence on the island. (Since then, things have gotten far smokier and, in some cases, sillier.)

But as these tasting notes show, there is much more to the Ardbeg 10 than merely smoke and fury. In fact, when you really get dialled in with this whisky, it is the balance and relative nuance that impress the most, as I have rediscovered over the past couple of days. 

For so formidable a whisky, Ardbeg 10 is surprisingly light in colour, almost more the yellow of a fading buttercup than the expected bright gold. The aroma, however, leaves little doubt that this is a potent, forceful spirit, with a smokiness discernable at a distance of a half-metre or more set against a malty sweetness that balances perfectly the peat, plus a healthy hit of seaweed and seashore, a suggestion of stone fruitiness, and just a touch of cooked vanilla. Don’t get me wrong, for the uninitiated this will come as a shock, a proverbial punch to the olfactory gut, but once acclimatized, you quickly grow to appreciate precisely how well structured it really is, particularly for a relatively youthful malt.

Even with the nose plugged and retro-olfactory impact minimized, the peatiness of this whisky is more than apparent on the palate. Open up that airway, though, and the smoke blossoms, roaring from a lightish note of smoky caramel at the front end to a full-blown beach campfire on the mid-palate, carrying with it notes of preserved lemon and lemon zest, caramelized peach, smoky honey, hints of lime zest, and some peppery spice as it nears the still smoky – no surprise! – finish that lingers with pepper, peat, lemon peel, and a touch of the Japanese seaweed salad known as wakame.

There are many other expressions of Ardbeg available these days, from the five year old Wee Beastie to such smokehead cult favourites as the core brand Corryvreckan and such past special releases as Smokiverse and Scorch. But the flagship of the brand is this, the ten year old, and it is a classic for very good reason. If you are new to heavily peated whiskies, it may immediately put you off, but given some time it is almost certain to entrance and entertain. If you are an Islay regular, on the other hand, then I suggest that perhaps this year’s Burns Day would be a good time to renew your acquaintance with this reliable and delightful Islay standard.

92 ($85 - $120)