Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Here’s a comparison of three special releases of Ardbeg, all “twenty something” years old and released from 2016 – 2018.
Tasted on 1/1/2021, neat in a Glencairn.
A special “Twenty Something” year old release of Ardbeg in 2016 that promised a new one each year. It turned out there would be three in this series. This is a 70cl bottle for the UK market.
This was distilled during the same era as the Airigh Nam Beist, when the distillery was operating just a couple of months a year.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 21 years old. Bottled on 05/05/2016.
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon Casks
Non-chill-filtered. One of 8,268 bottles.
Nose: sweet peat smoke. Lemon, lime. Sea spray, seaweed, warm sand. Iodine, camphor. Motor oil. Hemp rope. Coconut, toasted almonds. Overall pretty bright with lots of fruit under all that smoke.
Taste: big, sweet peat and smoke. Lemon. Seaweed. Medium mouthfeel, especially considering the ABV. Oily. Medicinal. Liquorice. Salty.
Finish: nice peat smoke. Sweet lemon. Salty, seaweed. Oil, camphor, a bit of tarriness. Long on peat, lemon, salt, and camphor.
This is a wonderful dram, bright and full of fruit and smoke with very good maritime and medicinal notes along for the ride. The mouthfeel is impressive given the ABV. A bit simple, and you need to dig for some of the flavors for sure, but an excellent Ardbeg.
Final Score: 92.
The second installment in the series was the Twenty Something, 23 years old. This is a 70cl bottle for the UK market.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.3%
Age: 23 years old. Bottled on 08/23/2017.
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon & Ex-Oloroso Sherry Casks
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: rich peat smoke. Lime. Sea spray. Tar. Hemp rope. Iodine, cough syrup. Salted meats. Liquorice, eucalyptus. Tea.
Taste: earthy peat smoke, a bit of ash. Lime. Seawater, quite salty. Mild pepper, anise. Tar, mineral and motor oil. Creosote. Medium-thick mouthfeel. Salty meat. Fatty.
Finish: rich, earthy peat smoke, some ash. Lime. Seawater. Eucalyptus. Creosote. Very salty. Bright. Long on peat, fruit, and salt all with a nice hint of tar.
Richer, earthier, more tar and creosote than the others. Saltier, too. This is a big, rich dram that is wonderful, if a bit simple. I keep coming back to it looking for new flavors, and finding the same things. Still, a lovely mouthfeel, excellent peat, maritime and medicinal with some nice tarry, creosote notes. Delicious. I could drink this all night.
Final Score: 93.
The third and final installment of the series was the Twenty Something 22 years old. This is from a sample, I believe from a 75cl bottle for the US market. Just 2,400 bottles of this one, a surprisingly low number.
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 46.4%
Age: 22 years old. Distilled in 1996. Bottled on 07/18/2018.
Cask type: Ex-Bourbon
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 2,400 bottles.
Nose: mild peat smoke. Sweet, tropical fruits (mango, pineapple.) Vanilla. Sea water. Iodine, camphor, eucalyptus. Diesel. Anise.
Taste: earthy peat smoke. Sweet pineapple, lemon, vanilla. Seawater. Camphor. Anise. Iodine. Mild creosote. Medium-thick mouthfeel.
Finish: earthy peat smoke. Salty. Camphor, mild pepper. Pineapple. Warm black rubber, a bit of creosote. Medium-ish on peat, salt, and camphor, with a little creosote and fruit.
Quite yummy. Richer than the 21, though the fruit is also pretty bright and up-front. More tropical than the others, surprisingly, and I might have mistaken this for another distillery on the nose. Not as tarry as the others. The finish feels a bit shorter than the other two. Balance is the worst of the three. Still, excellent.
Final Score: 92.
Comparison
Order: 23 > 21 > 22
Look, they’re all excellent and have more in common than not. There’s a bit of hair splitting in here for sure. Overall I like the richness, saltiness, and oily, creosote notes in the 23 best of the three. The 21 is the brightest and cleanest of the three. The 22 has an interesting tropical character which surprised me, and isn’t bad at all, I just like the other two more. I might pick the 21 over the 23 on another night, who knows, but I’m pretty comfortable with the 22 in third place.
My wife went 21 > 23 > 22, blind.
I was hoping one of these would be a 9. I assumed one would be going in. To me the best whiskies are complex, beautifully balanced, and my gut reaction after drinking them is that I don’t want to drink anything else for a while. The 23 comes close, but it’s honestly not very complex at all, and the balance is average. So here we have it, three 8’s all close together.
I don’t usually talk about price. It’s a personal thing. But I will say that for all three of these, I feel they’re a bit overpriced. I’m glad I have the 21 and 23, but I wouldn’t buy another, and I won’t seek out a 22. Such is the way with Ardbeg though: The Cult (of which I count myself a member; I have a 25 on order) overpays for most of it.
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 