Ardbeg Blaaack (2020 Committee Release)

Peaty nose, with some briney notes. I can definitely get some of the red fruit aromas from the wine, but they don't jump right out. I get maybe a mix of cherry or plum as well as red apple. The taste has a peaty, dry smoke, but it's not as strong as some other Ardbeg releases. I feel like Ardbeg often has a bit of a vegetal character, and I'm having trouble finding it here, perhaps the fruity wine notes cancel it out. I am also getting a baked apple flavor as it sits in the glass, although it's not overly sweet. In the finish, I get some salt and pepper and maybe some pine needles or pine resin. I also get some mellower red fruit. I feel like the wine fruit, maybe tames the Ardbeg a bit, for better and worse. They play nice together... maybe too nice, considering that this is one of the Islay heavyweights. The finish is quite lingering- it's dry spicy smoke with peppery waves... but I think some of the pepper may be coming from the wine as much as from the whiskey. If anything, this is smoother and quite a bit easier drinking than I had expected, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but possibly dangerous to sobriety and pocketbook. I like this. I'm not sure that I love it, considering this was well north of $100. Supernova is better, and the price isn't that much different. I will say that the pinot noir brings something interesting and different, and it actually works pretty well, but it's not going down in history as a classic and celebrated combo. If anything, I'd actually recommend buying a few moderately priced bottles of pinot noir if you are going to invest in this, if you don't have a lot of previous wine experience. I'm a whiskey drinker first and foremost, but I've polished off plenty of bottles of pinot over the years, and I think a lot of the interesting aspects of this whiskey would be lost on someone who didn't already have some wine background. Actually, this gets me thinking how Ardbeg might taste after some aging in a really robust red cask. Perhaps that is the magic that could take a project like this from good to magical. I gave myself a small pour of Uigeadail just to compare, and the peat is definitely toned down here compared to the Uigeadail. I also don't really get the classic Ardbeg smoked meat here, but it is front and center in the Uigeadail. It's a black sheep and it works, for sure, but I feel like it sacrifices some of it's origin to strike an interesting, milder balance.

This is the 2020 committee release bottled at 50.7% One of the good things about the COVID pandemic is that that one dude who buys up all the Ardbeg Committee releases the same day it comes out decided to stay home this year. This is the first time I have seen an Ardbeg CR on multiple store shelves for multiple days. This is actually one of the better Ardbeg releases. After I opened my bottle, I actually went to another store to buy a second bottle at $20 markup. The beauty of this whisky is I somehow get the wonderful memory of seasoning my carbon steel wok with flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil is ideal for seasoning woks because it has the highest burning point. At 350 degrees F, it will start to evaporate without burning, leaving behind a nonstick coating. The evaporated oil will be caught by my vent filter, recondense into oil, and occasionally drip back down into these droplets that I cannot resist putting my nose in for a smell. I am also reminded of the same smell when I visited some traditional flaxseed oil mills in the Netherlands, except it’s called lineseed in Europe. It is rare for a whisky to snap me into a vivid memory like teleportation and time travel. For that, Ardbeg Blaaack deserves praise and a star. It surprises me that no other Ardbeg has been able to evoke a similar response; perhaps this is an emergent property of combining the peat monster that is Ardbeg with a delicate red wine that is pinot noir. This whisky also has, on the nose, some strawberry and raspberry sweetness from the pinot noir cask finish. On the palate, there is very little fruitiness as a brutal ashen smoke and soot take over with bits of burnt peanut, straw; with loads of black brine. What prevents this whisky from being spectacular is the price, and the fact that Longrow Red Pinot Noir exists, which is a cheaper whisky that I can still find gathering dust at some stores. If your really want pinot noir influence, the spectacularly juicy, fruity Longrow is the one you want. Ardbeg Blaaack nonetheless provides a compelling and indeed black experience. Score: * (unforgettably good) How much does a bottle cost?: $140-160 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $140

Nose: Unmistakably Ardbeg. Deep and rich peat, smoke, phenol, and ash. Ocean spray, lemon and orange oil, mint and wintergreen. Plums, ripe peaches, strawberries, banana chips... The pinot noir cask is really bringing an excellent deep character here. Black pepper, cumin, chili powder. Cocoa. Just got an image in my head of a chocolate-dipped frozen banana. Vanilla and icing, with a touch of dry oak. Smoked glazed ham. Letting it sit open for a while allows apple and apricot to develop. Some soft floral characteristics and come through. Maybe a touch of nutmeg in the background. Palate: Ash, bitter/sour oak, phenol, dark fruits, dark chocolate. Solid tannin. Earth, smoke - again, this is definitely Ardbeg, but there's a twist here. There's some excellent black pepper spice. Ground chipotle powder, cinnamon, ginger, banana. Tar, burnt rubber. Bacon. Tingling sensation. I'm also picking up on a bit of that smokey character you get from a good pinot noir. Medium-light mouthfeel, medium oil content. Finish: Ashy, earthy, tannic. Charred oak, burned sugar, vanilla, with a tingling sensation that follows the sip down. White and black pepper show up, and then a rush of minty chloraseptic. Bitter lemon, more tannin, leather, maduro tobacco, black olives, and iodine. Eventually transforming into a dry iodine and ash with pops of phenol, anise, mint, and citrus. Makes you want to keep sipping. Very long finish. Other notes: This is definitely not for everyone - though the nose is quite inviting, the palate presents differently than you might expect and gives you a whole ride. Definitely on the challenging side. But if you're willing to sit, give this your attention, and really go exploring, it's got a ton to offer. It grabs your attention and doesn't let go, and the finish makes you want to keep coming back.

So this is a pre review tasting and I'll adjusted for the real one. This is my second glass and I'm trying to decided where to go with this. Nose - young, medicinal, citrus fruits, banana, and maybe a hint of a red wine. Taste - young whisky. A mess of vanilla, oak, salt, brine, bananas, youthful casks, some acidic red wine, and then some sweet mellowing notes and then a spicy finish. Every time I try to talk myself into or out of this I come to the same two thoughts. The first is this is young as hell and it shows it in the worst ways and the second is there are some good wine casks used here to help. Overall at the end of the day, and I'll try and come back if things change...this is another massive failure when taken into context of price. This is corryvreckan with better casking and maybe a few months more age. Yeah I'm seriously disappointed in this one. It's not bad whisky...but I'm struggling to score it past a 2.0. With others enjoying this I am really looking to find some value, but I keep coming back to these young whisky notes, good wine casks but perhaps cheap bourbon casks leading to them. I guess where I struggle is if some of spices and finishes are sharp casks that were intended or raw spirit that has no place in this. I'm thinking it's youth. 2.0 an average whisky where I feel many will enjoy it beyond that and many will find this down right offensive. Dropping it to 1.50, I've had it a few times. It's just nearing terrible. Pass on this please.

It is a bizarre smell that welcomes you, obsolete for an Ardbeg: the full-bodied and brackish peat is there, but tamed by a strong sweet component. Red fruits, green apple, caramel, vanilla and honey mix with acrid and medicinal smoke, alternating the nostrils in a curious dance of aromas. However, we are far from the calmness of An Oa, for example, the peat remains predominant, fiercely smoky and moist, but it declines in unusual sweet and fruity tones, dictated by the influence of the pinot. The palate reveals the strength of the whisky, with the alcohol content well present at the mouth, together with a very salty and peaty roar with a good peppery touch. But again, a sweet and cuddly profile hides under the muscles of burnt wood, bringing deep caramel notes, almost like sugared almonds, together with ripe fruit (many cherries, then raspberries and peach) and honey. Caribbean cigar tobacco background. It is a continuous alternation of the two souls, who overlap without ever amalgamating really, in an eternal conflict over who should prevail. In the end, the sweetness comes out defeated, rather long with pepper, smoked seaweed, sea salt and burnt wood. The balance is precarious, the two souls of the whisky never seem to reconcile, but it is precisely the conflict that makes drinking varied and fun, a variation on the Ardbeg theme that is delicious and curious, an imbalance that perhaps for some is a defect, for me it's a bonus.

Thanks to my dad for a great/unique graduation bottle. This is a viscous whiskey with oily residue on the sides of my glass. A light golden straw color. Nose of sherry, grass, oak, pear and of course smoke. Though the smoke is evident it is quite soft and subtle for ardbeg. The smoke was hiding in the taste but dissipates and allows other flavors to emerge; leather, ripened plums, tannins. There is a slight medicinal/iodine quality that turns rapidly to Dr Pepper (or is it Root beer?) and finishes long. The leather, vanilla and tannins persist on the finish for a pleasant swirl. I love this whiskey with the disclaimer I am a big fan of islays finished in wine or port casks (lagavulin distillers edition, for example). I think the fruit stands up well to the smoke and leather typical for the style. Smoke critics will certainly knock this one for a lack of balance; I will gladly buy their share of bottles.