Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Here’s a couple of tasty Ardbegs. (And aren’t all Ardbegs tasty?) Tasted on 9/5/2020, neat in a Glencairn.
This is a standard bottle of Ardbeg 10, bottled in 2014, opened in mid-2017. You wouldn’t think a bottle of the 10 would last this long, but I have got a lot of Ardbeg 🙂
Fun fact: this was what got me into scotch in the first place. A bottle of Ardbeg 10 on a snowboarding trip in January 2007. I was hooked, and I haven’t been without a bottle of this since.
So hey, it’s Ardbeg 10; we all love it, so let’s drink it.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 10 years old. Bottled in 2014.
Cask type: Bourbon Barrel
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: earthy peat smoke, tar, iodine, seawater, lemon, rope, bacon, wet stones, a touch of malt, vanilla.
Taste: smoke, light pepper, seawater, tar, sweet lemon, medium mouthfeel.
Finish: nice smoke, salty sea, white pepper, a touch of sweetness all linger for quite some time.
As always this is very, very good. An old standby that holds up really well, and it sets a high bar for a distillery’s base expression. Indeed, this sets a high bar for many of Ardbeg’s special releases and NAS expressions! Everyone should have one of these.
Final Score: 84.
Corryvreckan has been part of Ardbeg’s core range since 2009, and is readily available everywhere. Bottled at a hefty 57.1% ABV and non chill-filtered, this one is from 2014.
Here in WA it’s literally twice the price of the standard Ardbeg 10. Worth it? Well, I like to focus on the taste, but it is interesting that this commands such a premium.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 57.1%
Age: NAS. Bottled on 04/10/2014.
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon & French Oak
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: seaweed, bonfire, iodine, lemons, a bit of apple, almost a bit of sweet diesel, hemp rope. With water: the smoke pops to the front, a full on bbq now.
Taste: earthy, dry, rich peat smoke, liquorice, lemon, maple bacon, fatty salmon, rich mouthfeel. With water: a bit sweeter, just as rich as before.
Finish: that deep, peaty smoke pops now! Salty seawater, a little pepper, lemon. Quite long, extremely satisfying. With water: similar but bigger, more smoke, more salt, still delicious.
I know there’s been some variation in these over the years, and some like the 10 over this, but I find this to be excellent and a cut above the 10 for sure. Water works well with this and brings out more of the smoky bbq flavor. This is a pretty straightforward dram without too much complexity, but boy is it just excellent.
Final Score: 88.
Here’s another Corry from 2011 to compare with. All the same stats as the 2014, this dram is from a sample. I’ve seen some complaints here and there of a few bad years of this expression, so I’m curious to see if there’s any interesting difference here.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 57.1%
Age: NAS. Bottled on 01/12/2011.
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon & French Oak
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: very similar to the 2014… seaweed, bonfire, iodine, lemon and apple, more tar than diesel, rope, this may be slightly brighter than the 2014. With water: interesting… remains brighter than the 2014 and the smoke doesn’t pop quite as much.
Taste: very close to the 2014, but I’d say more burning wood than peat. Otherwise, same. With water: more citrus mixed in now and more sweetness to go with it, and it continues that wood over peat.
Finish: the smoke pops again, perhaps a little more on wood than peat in this one, but with the same salty seawater, mild pepper, a touch of lemon, and oh so long. I also feel the warmer peppery feel remains longer with this one. With water: very similar, but more citrus sweetness for sure.
I thought these were almost the same, except more of a wood than peat smoke. With water though there’s more of a difference to be found. Rather than amping up the smoke, it got sweeter and more citrus. How the fuck does that work?!?
Final Score: 87.
Comparison
Order: Corry 2014 > Corry 2011 > 10
Damn I love Ardbeg. All of these are readily available, reasonably priced, and extremely good. I really dig the rich feel of the Corry over the 10 in general, and I like the pop of the smoky flavors with the 2014 w/ water over the more citrusy 2011. I love seeing the subtle (or sometimes not!) differences in the same expression in different years. Just 3 years between these two Corrys, but there’s still some interesting variance. I may go buy a current one and compare just for fun.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 