Ardbeg BizarreBQ

I’ve heard told the tales that Ardbeg special releases have gone down in quality over the years. Given that most of the Committee Releases are in the $150 range and most of the general releases of those Committee Releases are in the $125 range, this fact, coupled with the reputation of being low quality, is enough to make me refrain from purchases. After all, $150 or $125 strikes me as far too much to pay for anything without an age statement or some other potentially impressive reason to drop that type of cash. Truth be told, the most I’ve ever spent on a bottle of whisky has been for the Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition at $110, and even though that doesn’t carry your traditional age statement, it carried barreled and bottling dates, which serves as its own age statement (or at least, it carried these until recently…if I’m to understand, 2023 DEs didn’t have barreled and bottling dates?). In any case, I’ve also heard told the tales that this Ardbeg BizarreBQ is quite good, and at $85, it’s prices much more reasonably. The choice here is whether you want to buy yet another bottle of the Uggie or this, and given my penchant for novelty, I went with this last month (in an order that also contained Glen Scotia 12 Year Special Release finished in Amontillado Cask, which aside from hearing that it was good, I’m a sucker for Amontillado if only for its association with Poe…if you’ll just come with me, the Glen Scotia’s in the basement down this long tunnel I promise I won’t trap you inside and brick up!). And well, as far as this Ardbeg is concerned, the word on the street isn’t wrong. It’s quite good. In fact, I noted in a recent review that it reminds me a great deal of the Lagavulin 11 Year Charred Oak Offerman Edition. Now people weren’t as crazy about the Offerman Charred Oak as they were about the Stout finish, and I get that, but the Charred Oak was also damned good, as is this Ardbeg. The first time I tasted this was a few weeks ago with my dad, and we had just finished sampling Laphroaig Lore before turning to this and the combination was one hell of a pairing. I sometimes think moving from something subtle to something, well, less subtle, works better than moving the opposite direction and that night we were moving from subtle to less subtle, though I hesitate to say this Ardbeg is abrasive. It’s just stronger, smokier, and that made a huge difference in my first taste of this. For a moment after I sipped, I couldn’t help but note that the palates felt similar. There was a smokiness on the tongue that was undercut with a sherried sweetness that was quite delightful on both drams. The nose on the Ardbeg, despite it being 103 proof or so, isn’t overpowering even though it’s smoky. There’s a BBQ smoke quality to it, but it’s not harsh as well as sea salt and vanilla, that’s overall quite delightful. On the palate, it continues to feel slightly charred but not in a burnt ashtray overdone meat kind of way but more of a well done steak you can still enjoy. But where this really excels is on the finish. My god, it’s got that palate of sherried sweetness and peat smoke and char, which then fades into this salted dark chocolate caramel delight on the back end. It doesn’t stay quite as long as I would like. The finish isn’t as quick as a high school boy on prom night, but it doesn’t take quite as long as a seasoned porn star shooting his 220th film where half the run time is the money shot either. Never mind that. I just brough images to all our minds I’m sure we’d much rather forget, so moving on, the length doesn’t necessarily matter when it’s this delicious. As a departure from the Uggie, I’d recommend this to peat fans, to Ardbeg fans, to fans of smoke and char. I also recently picked up the Laphroaig Cask Strength Batch 16 and will review that soon, and I’d say this is closer in palate to the Batch 15 of that, which also had a lot of char and smoke and maybe bordered on too much. This doesn’t border on too much but hits those notes just right. In fact, I’d definitely recommend this over the Corry, but of course, traditionalists might prefer the 10 or the An Oa, and that’s fine. One thing I’ll say: it bodes well for Ardbeg getting back on track for their special releases. If this is still available after the holidays when my whisky budget opens back up, I might even get another bottle. And for me, there’s no higher praise.

Ardbeg BizarreBQ is a no-age-statement peated single malt Scotch bottled at 50.9% ABV. It is matured in “a combination of double charred oak casks, Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and our unique BBQ casks.” It sells for $80-90 at MSRP, and I found one at this price. Those fuckers have done it. They have made a good Ardbeg at a reasonable price. They can make a good Ardbeg at a reasonable price. I still buy bottles of Ardbegs because they are fun to collect, even if they are horribly overpriced ripoffs for the liquid that you get. While Macallan selects only the rarest and most distinguished casks from Spain ad nauseum, Ardbeg sends Scotches into space, and uses BBQ casks. I don’t care what a BBQ cask even is. Did it contain BBQ sauce? Fine with me. Ardbeg BizarreBQ combines so much simplicity with forcefulness; it is barbaric. So imagine BBQ sauce, cherry wood smoked beef brisket, and just fucking cigarette ashtray. The finish is bacon burnt to a crisp. Cancer. I definitely get notes of malignancy. I don’t care if this was 5 years old. I don’t care if the PX influence was of poor quality and tastes like plastic. This whisky does not care. It is on a mission to bring you the smoke and bring you the BBQ. Fuck what you want because this is what you will get. From the marketing present before you open the bottle to the finish on the aftertaste, this whisky announces clearly what it is, and that has been missing from Ardbeg for so long. I remember at the start of my whisky journey being amazed at Lagavulin 16, for how meaty and manly it felt. This whisky is a whole new level of meat, BBQ sauce, smoke, and ash. If Nick Offerman has not tried this, loved this, and endorsed this, what is he even talking about?

Ardbeg special releases have been rather disappointing over the last few years for me and I've since begun to ignore them as overpriced marketing gimmicks that would most likely be utilized as a mixer rather than a dram I enjoyed neat. This one however came at a surprisingly lower price of $90 and had rather favorable reviews, so I took the plunge and bought a bottle to find out for myself. The nose is mildly rich starting with a mix of roasted seaweed, blackberry jam, charred lemons and limes along with charred meats then dark chocolate covered raisins, toasted macadamia nuts and moderate sea spray followed by baked figs, mildly sour apple and tangerines that transitions to mild baking spices and gauze bandages with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with with creamy citrus before veering to mildly sour red berries and a moderate bitter spice that quickly fades to coffee rubbed brisket, seaside minerality and freshly lit pipe tobacco then salted mangos, balsamic strawberries and grilled peaches that transitions to moderate baking spices, gauze bandages and popsicle sticks with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length starting sweet with a mix of creamy citrus and mildly sour red berries that fades to the background as charred meats topped with sea salt emerge to finish out the experience. Overall, this is a really enjoyable dram that balances a mix of sweet, smoky and sour fairly well but leans slightly sourer than I prefer. I tend to be more sensitive than most on sour flavors and think this would be a welcome addition to anyones collection that enjoys smoky drams. Hopefully Ardbeg releases more reasonably priced editions like these in the future.

It has been a long time since i last truly enjoyed an Ardbeg Special Release. But i can honestly tell you, and i am giving a serious spoiler here, that finally this Islay distillery has given us a worthy whisky. "Bizarrebq" is one crazy name for a dram, and it is made to resemble a backyard BBQ. Actually, the whole brand has a partnership with the now famous "DJ Bbq", whose videos cooking food with Ardbeg are quite popular. This has been made in Px sherry casks and also in "Ardbeg's BBQ Casks" (???) Bottled at 50.9%abv, this is a core-limited-edition, which is a contradictory statement but you know how marketing works nowadays. On the nose, it is spectacular. Spanish curated ham; a pair of new socks and ashes. It smells like a "Pancetta" or a Brisket, cooked with lots of salt to produce a dry part of the meat which is delicious. Ashtray. On the palate, it starts with salty water than after one second turns into a creme brulee with pepper and Ardbeg's potent swampy-like peatiness. It feels like chewing the head of those "He-man" toys from the 1980s. Moss and caramel; peaty and sweet. Incredible experience. Aftertaste is good but a little simple and straightforward. Ashes and gunpowder. Salty. Overall, this was a great and powerful release by Ardbeg. They achieved here exactly what they wanted to: to give you a BBQ experience. This whisky can pair incredible with smoked food. Lovely really. My score for it is a well deserved 93 over 100.

If you Google Ardbeg BizarreBQ you can find a picture of the original proposed back label for this release, which stated that their "BBQ casks" were comprised of "oak toasted over a brazier packed with seaweed and birchwood." For whatever reason, they left that interesting nugget out of the label that made it onto bottles, only noting that the casks included double charred oak, PX sherry, and "unique BBQ casks." Obviously, it sounds like another one of their harebrained gimmicks, but the early reviews seemed positive, so what the hey? On the nose berries and charcoal smoke, ham, something vegetal. The palate is sweet with cinnamon sugar up front, strawberry jam, honey ham, tangy raspberry barbecue sauce, chocolate. The smoke builds and builds toward the the back end. It's more like barbecue smoke, but there's a little of the Ardbeg peaty signature in there too. The finish is sooty with a bit of dark chocolate and meaty barbecue tang. An Ardbeg special release under $100 is it's own special unicorn. And it's actually good! Compared to the regular releases, I think I'd put this slightly behind Oogie and Corry, but well ahead of An Oa. I did buy a second bottle though, so I clearly enjoy it. I'm going 4-4.25, but tempted to go higher on the rating because I want to give props to Ardbeg for actually finding a gimmick that works, and for releasing it at a reasonable price.

Nearing the end of this wonderful bottle, I highly recommend picking one up if you're able to find one since theyre no longer being produced. At $85 I feel like this is was a very good buy, not often you get a limited Ardbeg release that punches this far above its price point. Distinctly better than this year's "Spectacular" when A-B'd and (for me) $40 cheaper. Nose: sweet vanilla showing up much more prominently than I remember here. Ash & charcoal is present but more subdued than I remember. Smouldering peatfire on the beach, there is a strong amount of salinity as it opens up a bit more. Baking and mulling spices, hints of citrus peel and red currant Palate: strongly ashy on the first hit to the palate. Opens up into more of a prominent dark but sweet chocolate with hints of salted caramel and charred oak. Salinity weaves throughout. Peat is certainly here as well, though not dominant, bringing an umami seaweed note. Sweet malt and hints of red berries. Finish: ashy, a brown sugar maple glaze note, peat phenols and salt air