Ardbeg Heavy Vapours Committee Release

Reviewed by: zSolaris

Distillery: Ardbeg.

Region: Islay.

Age: NAS.

ABV: 50.2%.

Cask Type: Ex-Bourbon barrels.

Color: Between 0.1, White Wine and 0.2, Pale Straw.

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Nose: This smells an awful like the bottle of Lagg new make /u/KissmeElon shared with me. It smells of dirty, unrefined smoke with smidge of barbecue.

Palate: Thankfully, while it smells an awful lot like Lagg new make, it isn’t nearly as rough or raw as that stuff was. Overall, its underwhelming entirely and lacks any kind of punch. You get a smidge of burnt ends and a smidge of barbecue flavored chips.

Finish: Long with tar and burnt herbs.

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Conclusion: It has been a while since I’ve had a Ardbeg Committee Release but this is easily the most boring of them I’ve ever had. The absolute best thing I can say about this whisky is that it isn’t particularly rough to drink, rather it is really easy to. In fact this was so much lacking in flavor and punchiness that my notes have “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make a 50% ABV whisky taste like it’s 20%”. There’s zero refinement, nearly zero flavor, and absolutely no depth. It isn’t bad as in “oh my God I want to spit this out bad”, but it is utterly and totally boring.

Rating: 50.

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The Muskox enjoyed this one a lot more than I did, check out his review here!

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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.