It'll Rip Your Head Off! (Ardbeg's Ten Years Old)

Member Name: Muddy250

Product:	Ardbeg's Ten Years Old
Date:	14/04/04 (1595 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Complex, Amazing flavours

Disadvantages: Might be too powerful for beginners

Where to start with this complicated little beauty then? It won't really rip your head off..honest..


There are whiskies and then there are whiskies. Highland, lowland, island, grains, blends, malts, the huge Speyside region of Scotland producing the bulk of what I used to regard as the best?until I tasted this one?Ardbeg 10 year old.

Possibly, not only by my definition, the best malt whisky ever produced, certainly one of the most distinctive, powerfully flavoured and one which went out of production in 1981 (horror!) only to be thankfully revived in 1997(phew).


Islay

Of all the whiskies of the world, the Islay malts are so distinctive, that no one who has tasted one could ever fail to identify it again. There is nothing to compare, love it or hate it, and many do, as the first taste can be ?interesting? to say the least. They are considered (by those who know) to be the finest malts on the planet and amongst them, Ardbeg is held to be King, and my wife just happened to pick one up for me on my birthday. Lucky boy!


Ardbeg

This Islay (pronounced Eyelah) distillery was built in 1815, alongside the sea, not just close by, but actually alongside. The rooms where the spirit is stored are part of the harbour wall itself so that only stonework separates the resting barrels from the Atlantic, how do they sleep at night? Very well if they have a dram before turning in!

This is the first product from the distillery not to be chill filtered, giving it more body. It?s so oily it clings to the glass and the slight impurities mean there are subtle variations between batches and an extra 6% alcohol over the normal 40, which is always nice?it?s out of the cask, into the bottle and into your glass! More distilleries are leaving out the filtering process these days in the recognition th
at people prefer character to sterility.

Not for the faint of heart, this is a complex and powerful malt with peat, smoke, sweetness, chocolate (yes you heard right) salt and seaweed. Sounds bloody awful eh? Well I do know people who would agree with you but I wouldn?t be one of them. It smells wonderful and with just a splash of water added the flavours seem to march across your tongue in the same order with each mouthful. The first is an overpowering smokiness, odd in the sense that you can?t really smell this, followed by peat (from the waters of Loch Uigeadail which supplies the distillery) next, salty, medicinal seaweed (referred to as phenols by people who know more about this than me?and possibly by chemists) and finally, chocolate sweetness, a real treat before bed!


Well?

If you are new to malt whisky, Ardbeg really isn?t for you and I can?t say whether I?d have enjoyed it myself when I first began drinking malts. I know people who have tried it as a first malt and been seriously put off. The lighter flavours of the highland malts, much easier on the palate would be a better place to start although for me they seem fairly tame now, (lots of practice?) shame I have a dozen bottles or so to get through eh?

I do know now that will always be an Ardbeg in my collection! How they get all those flavours in there I have no idea and I don?t suppose they?d let on if I asked so I?ll just content myself that the distillery is back on a firm footing and that supplies won?t be drying up any time soon!

TFR
Chris
PS Morrisons are selling it at £20 at the moment, usually £25ish if you fancy trying it out for yourself. If you really hate it e-mail me for my address..... ;-)

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