Last night the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC - that famous temple of whiskies - hosted the team from Ardbeg (including current distillery manager Colin Gordon) in a tasting of five whiskies, followed by a question-and-answer session.
The five whiskies sampled were: the new 5th release of Traigh Bhan; Fermutation; BizzareBQ; Galileo; and the newest Anthology release, "Harpy's Tale."
Shoutout to Chris, my friend from SMWS who was in attendance, and to Scott who sat at my table and compared notes with me!
Traigh Bhan, 5th Release: 19 years old, from some mix of ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry, at 46.2% ABV.
Nose: Wow, ash and soot galore! Salt, butter, musty, faint peat. After some time resting in the glass: clay, very very old smoke (I almost wrote "smoker's carpet" as a note). That "settled in" smoke note, like buying a used car previously owned by a heavy smoker. It's there, it never goes away, but it's not strong either. Tar, and also kippers.
Palate: Viscous. Ashy as hell. Soot, cigarettes, unripe mango or peach (stone fruit). Salt, iodine. Just incredibly sooty. Colin Gordon, the distillery manager, took a page from Dave Broom and named it "soot and fruit." Some buttery vanilla underneath the ash.
Finish: Dry, dry, dry. Leather, smoke, herbs, bitter ash. Very old in feel. Some pineapple leftover at the very end.
A very mature, very dirty Ardbeg. Unusually dry and leathery, but quite interesting. Rounded and complex.
Fermutation: NAS, "an accident" according to Colin Gordon, created after they allowed fermentation to continue for three weeks after losing power.
Nose: Super interesting - very funky. The initial note I get is bubble gum, almost tutti frutti. Smoked peaches or apricots. Lime peel. Honey rather than vanilla. Salt, chocolate, and brown bread toast. After some time in the glass: berries, very tart ones.
Palate: Follows the nose: Berries, ash, lime, burnt honey, peat, a real puckering tartness. Cracked black pepper.
Finish: Medium-length. Ash, citrus, herbs: stems and roots both. Cracked pepper.
An interesting experiment (that they are apparently not averse to trying again). It apparently sold very well, and they were very happy Jack Rose had enough on hand to provide for the tasting.
BizzareBQ: Another experiment. NAS, a mix of double-charred ex-bourbon, PX sherry, and "BBQ casks" (casks exposed to BBQ smoke?), bottled at 50.9% ABV.
Nose: Interesting - I get sweet white win, butter, melon, but very little peat or smoke on the nose. Unsure if that's the previous two drams muting my senses, or that the peat and smoke are really that much lower.
Hints of BBQ sauce that grow stronger over time and with a drop of water (Kansas City style). Sharp fruit, like red grapes or raspberries. Finally, after a lot of sitting, a bit more smoke emerges, in the form of hickory-smoked brisket.
Palate: Oily. Very herbal, spicy. Pepper and lemon. BBQ sauce, but more of a dry rub type thing. Smoked meats. Ash. Fudge and dense chocolate.
Finish: Highly herbal. Lemon pepper, lots of it. Salt. Vanilla wafers. Medium length. Surprisingly dry.
My least favorite of the night, it was still quite interesting stuff, but there was a bit of a disconnect between the nose and palate for me, and it ended up a "parts greater than their sum" type thing.
Galileo: One of the first Ardbegs I ever tried, way back in 2014. 12 years old, distilled 1999 and released 2012, I think it's 49% ABV. Very difficult to find these days. They used Marsala casks from Sicily, and it really shows.
Nose: Vanilla bean, ash, coffee beans, coffee liqueur, wood polish, grape candy, and a distinct champagne note. Tobacco cake (!). A very rich, round, complex nose. You can really feel the Marsala presence.
Palate: Dry ash, lemon, wood, cracked pepper, cigarettes, lime peel, wine tannins. Herbal, like Chartreuse. Apple skin, toffee fumes.
Finish: Lime, ash, pepper, herbs, with a halo of orchard fruit.
My favorite of the night. Really sublime stuff. The Marsala cask/European oak makes its presence known across the board, and the US rep for LVMH (the parent company of Ardbeg) said the European oak is responsible for the tight finish. A very good mix of sweet and spicy.
Anthology (Harpy's Tale): Their newest release. 13 years old, a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-Sauternes casks (!). Kind of strange marketing, with the Harpy, if you ask me.
Nose: Butter, herbs, pepper, salt, smoke, feels surprisingly mature. Leathery. Lime. An unusual wine note, presumably from the Sauternes: white grape, but salty and ashy.
Palate: Ash, lime, white wine, white pepper, herbs, olive oil. Surprisingly waxy. Charcoal briquettes.
Finish: White wine tannins, leather, herbs, smoked meat. A definite wax note outlasts the rest.
I was gratified that the Ardbeg team basically confirmed every one of my tasting notes. I liked this one quite a bit, and hope they mess about more with Sauternes going forward.
All in all, a good lineup of whiskies. The question-and-answer session was fairly playful, although some difficult questions were asked (and very carefully answered), things like "what is Ardbeg doing about the malt shortage at Port Ellen" and "why so many NAS releases" etc.
As has been noted here and all over the web, LVMH is a marketing/advertising juggernaut (I confess I don't really like any of the Ardbeg campaigns from the last few years - way over the top and often ridiculous), and it was quite clear that their team was not going to wade into any deep waters or thorny topics - a little disappointing, perhaps, compared to other distillery tastings I've attended. But you can hardly blame them - it's a company specializing in luxury products and their image is paramount.
A good night, all in all. Here is my ranking of the five, a day later:
1. Galileo
2. Traigh Bhan #5
3. Anthology
4. Fermutation
5. BizzareBQ
Finally, a thank you is due to Bill Thomas and the great staff at Jack Rose. The bar made a fantastic introductory cocktail consisting of Ardbeg 10, Aperol, and ginger syrup:
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