Ardbeg 10 - Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

For some reason, I have always seen Ardbeg as something of a rival to my beloved Laphroaig.

This is ridiculous, I know.

It's the many similarities but critical differences that do it to me.

They're both Islay distilleries that produce an unabashedly peaty malt that avoids being one dimensional.  Key similarity.  A key difference is the "type" of peatiness, with Ardbeg's being the more smoky and dry campfire type and Laphroaig's being the more wet, moist and drippy type.

Ardbeg Corryvreckan Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

Ardbeg is among the companies that has been leading the NAS (no age statement) wave in scotch, and their Corryvreckan just might be the world's most acclaimed NAS scotch.

The Corryvreckan is a beast that has achieved superlative reviews and phenomenal ratings across whisky magazines and review sites.  It won the World's Best Single Malt Whisky award at the 2010 World Whisky Awards, and Jim Murray rated it as the best NAS scotch in his famed Whisky Bible.

The whisky takes its name from the famous whirlpool that lies North of the Islay, and the distiller reports that just like the whirlpool, it is "not for the faint of heart."  Having sipped of this liquid, I would tend to agree.  It is bottled at cask strength at 57.1% ABV and is not chill filtered.

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch 52 Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

I have been excited to try the Aberlour A'bunadh.

I spent the last six months on a lengthy exploration of the world's peatier malts, and for whatever reason, I was deep into the caramelly and fruity scotch world before that.

Which is to say, I hadn't had a glass of sherry styled scotch in... a while.

A long while.

Until a week ago.

I happened to be at a liquor store trying to decide which Islay flavor to explore next when I saw a mini bottle of Macallan 12 Sherry Cask at a decent price.  I picked it up, brought it home, and I was immediately sucked into the sherry flavors.