Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
Continuing my quest to finish reviewing all the Ardbeg I have available, today I wanted to take a little break from distillery bottlings, so here’s two young IBs. The first doesn’t actually say Ardbeg, but the “Kildalton” gives it away. The second is a nice batch of Ardbeg from That Boutique-y Whisky Company which I recall liking quite a lot on first tasting. We’ll see how it holds up today.
Tasted on 8/25/2022, neat in a Glencairn, water added later as appropriate.
Kildalton 9 Year (2008) Meadowside Blending
Distillery: Ardbeg (assumed)
Bottler: Meadowside Blending (MBl)
Region: Scotland, Islay (assumed)
ABV: 59.4%, cask strength
Age: 9 years old. Distilled in 10/2008. Bottled in 01/2018.
Cask type: Butt
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 709 bottles, from a single cask #5066.
Nose: malty, vanilla. Rich peat smoke, lemons, quite sweet. Seaweed. Sour milk. With Water: opens well, fatty meats, boiled pork, more of that lactic funk.
Taste: sweetened lemons, malty, sour milk. Lots of ashy peat smoke. Rather hot. Seaweed. Salty. Mild pepper. With Water: bacon fat, heat is gone, more vanilla, more sour, a little thin.
Finish: big pop of rich peaty smoke. Sugared lemon rind. That sour milk. Hot. White pepper. A bit fishy. Medium length on smoke, lemon, and that lactic funk. A slightly bitter tinge on the end. With Water: more malty, heat is gone, bigger ashy smoke. Similar otherwise.
Summary: This is an interesting one, with some good qualities, and some off. It feels like a young, simple, peaty Ardbeg with some nice maritime notes, but it’s got this odd lactic, sour funk to me that runs through it all. It’s quite hot neat, and water does open it up and tame the heat, but also thins the mouthfeel. It’s a bit fishy on the finish, too. It honestly seems to get more sour every time I go back to it. Look, I dig a bit of funk, but this has become overpowering and off-putting.
Would I buy a bottle? no
Final Score: 72.
Ardbeg That Boutique-y Whisky Company Batch #4
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: That Boutique-y Whisky Company (TBWC)
Region: Scotland, Islay
ABV: 52.4%, cask strength
Age: NAS. Bottled in 2013.
Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. #246 of 427 bottles, from a single cask.
Nose: smoldering damp peat. Sweetened lemons. Iodine, bandages, ointment. Eucalyptus. Sea spray. Tar, WD-40. Smoked fish. With Water: bigger, more machine oil, more smoked fish, more medicinal.
Taste: warm, earthy peat smoke. Sweet lemon. Very medicinal w/ more bandages, ointment, etc. Euc. Seawater. Tarry, oily. Fatty salmon. A little white pepper. With Water: a bit more mineral.
Finish: nice pop of smoke. Sweet lemons. All those medicinal notes linger. White pepper, eucalyptus, and tar. Medium-long on smoked salmon, medicinal notes, and mild pepper. With Water: more smoke, a bit more white pepper, finish feels longer now.
Summary: This is a beautiful, clean Ardbeg with no cask games or gimmicks, and I’m all over that like a fat kid on a smarty. The nose is brilliant, nice complexity, very medicinal with some nice tarry, oily notes. Lots of smoked fish with lemon slices all over it. It’s very good neat, but just a little water opens this one up really well. The nose gets bigger all around, and I feel like the finish got longer. The longer I sit with this one the more and more I like it. I was gonna go “high 7” but after 45min or so I’m calling it a solid 8. Score another win for TBWC.
Would I buy a bottle? yes
Final Score: 92.
Comparison
Order: TBWC > Kildalton
A trivial ordering today. The TBWC is delicious, the Kildalton is flawed.
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 