Category: Reviews

By Andy Smith

Another Ardbeg is born. The Traigh Bhan and An Oa stand as fine Ardbegs but the reception has been politely muted. Will this be the bottle that becomes a shelf staple? Let’s start this out with a note from Ardbeg :

Ardbeg Wee Beastie is the latest permanent expression to join the Distillery’s Ultimate Range. At just five years old, Wee Beastie is a feisty young creature with a formidable taste.

SOMETHING BIG AND SMOKY…

Our whisky creators set out to make the rawest, smokiest Ardbeg ever. The result is Ardbeg Wee Beastie and this tongue-tingling, beautifully smoky dram is the youngest Ardbeg we’ve ever made.

THE REVIEW

Nose:

Polyurethane drying on pine. Ah yes, the fine smell of a fumy garage signalling a child is but a day away from a new bunk bed. Perhaps there’s a sack of potting soil from Lowe’s still waiting for spring planting.

Palate:

Thin and watery mouthfeel, but is still flavorful. Good choice not dropping this to 40% as it doesn’t seem like it could take more water and keep its punch. It’s simple and soil-y, perhaps with a hint of semi-sweet Werther’s Original candy. The finish is fleeting but makes you want to drink more, FAST.

THE VERDICT

This seems to clock in at around the $40-$45 range and may be less after tariff’s end. This goes down very easy, almost too easy. Ardbeg, with their odd-looking choice of ABV (47.5%), has managed to keep the Wee Beastie delicate enough not to burn, but flavorful enough to keep us interested.

Very few of you will remember the Ardbeg series that followed 5-10 years after the re-opening in 1998. The “Path to Peaty Maturity” (Very Young, Still Young, Almost There) follows the development from a 5-6 year old malt to 10 year (bottled as “Renaissance” but unlike any Ardbeg 10yr before or after.) It’s been a decade since I’ve had them, but I recall the youngest versions as vegetal and toe-curling but getting better as their age progressed. Because of the closure, those bottles couldn’t have included older Ardbeg. Wee Beastie, however CAN and likely does have older Ardbeg in it to smooth out those “Very Young” edges. Remember, “5yr” on the label just means that there is nothing under that age in the bottle. They could put 22 year old whisky in if they wanted. Aside from adding older whisky, the only other way this Beastie could be so different from the Path Series is that they used different spirit or different casks, but it seems unlikely that this could may up the difference.

At this price buy two so you don’t have to go back to the store tomorrow. It’s not epic by any means, but have a look at your fill level an hour after you open it… it may scare you a WEE bit.

It’s not often a new (permanent-ish) Ardbeg is born. Yay. Let’s start this out with a note from Ardbeg (Dr. Bill? The Kelpie?)

Ardbeg Traigh Bhan is a sublime 19 year old whisky and the Distillery’s latest small batch release. Inspired by Islay’s Traigh Bhan beach (known locally as the Singing Sands), this rare aged spirit is an enchanting reflection of the place to which it owes its name

They go on to spoil the surprise, like every marketing team ever, and tell you what you should smell and taste. But I don’t want THEM to ruin the surprise for you, I want to ruin the surprise for you. Let’s go spoil your innocence…

THE REVIEW

Nose: Newly finished wood on a a dry eastern (US) autumn day. (sounds like I’m polishing my resume for SMWS, right?)

Palate: Initially the mouthfeel is a bit thin and meh. The salty-ness hits first and then perhaps leads to a green tea tea that has been sitting too long in fresh cut wood. There’s a bit of a tamed rawness I faintly remember from the Ardbeg “Almost There” bottle from years’ past. It has a finish or aftertaste of asphalt or charcoal.

THE VERDICT

I wanna drink it, of course I do, it’s Ardbeg. Unfortunately, they watered it down too much and it’s noticeable. It has a nice one-note type palate, but for something that claims oloroso sherry, well, I didn’t see it. This is $300 in the USA. THREE HUNDRED?! I remember when Laphroiag 18 bombed at $150 years ago because it just wasn’t that much better than the younger releases. I’m afraid Ardbeg may be stretching for more of our pocketchange than they’ve earned here.

If you had lined up the Ardbeg range up and gave me a go, I’d probably be able to pick this out. But if I was a little busy and you handed be an An Oa and said it was Traigh Bhan, man, I don’t think I’d call you out.

Jon Glaser does some for the masses and some for the whisky snoots. This one is for the snoots. Tobias intrigued me enough to purchase a couple of bottles for our member hour at Peatin’ Meetin’. It’s not easy to get as its SRP is set at $500, and is sold for hundreds over that. TatA is blended malt, which used to be called a vatted malt or pure malt, and means it’s all malt from multiple distilleries without any grain whisky. Technically we could call it a double malt as it is a product of Clynelish and Caol Ila. I’ll let them speak for themselves about what’s in the bottle:

“The expression is a blend of just over half 24-year-old malt whisky from Highland distillery Clynelish, which was aged in American oak hogsheads, and peaty whisky from Islay distillery Caol Ila “of a considerably older age”.”

Of course Compass Box being Compass box, they couldn’t just put on an ordinary label and give it an ordinary name. Since I don’t like repeating what has already been done, I’ll let our Scotch Club members tell you the story behind the name and label.

THE REVIEW

Nose: Intense.  Potpourri in a lumberyard.

Palate:  Fun and spunky.  Damp antique furniture in a tropical environment with salted caramel.  An oiliness coats your mouth and keeps it tingling as if a little electrical current is running for a full minute.  The Clynelish definitely asserts itself in the first second before the Caol Ila says ‘howdy’ . You can’t stop chewing on this one. I felt like a dog licking peanut butter off the roof of my mouth. This one is old and refined, yet lively.  It’s like an old gentleman dusted himself off to cut a rug at his granddaughter’s wedding.