Ardbeg Scorch (2021 Committee Release)

This bottle might be the one Ardbeg that really didn't gave me any expectations. Little did i knew, that it will be on my yearly top ten list. Ardbeg Scorch Committee release is the feis ile, Ardbeg Day, special expression, which has been matured in "fiercely charred casks, by totally real and not made up Islay's dragon". Bottled at 51.7%abv, light color. On the nose, spectacular. Burnt wood. Intense smoke, cuban cigars; Chocolate and a pair of new shoes. Aniseed, sawdust and this thing that we in Ecuador called "Monigote de Año Viejo" which is a full size model of any man or monster, made of sawdust, glue and newspapers, that we ecuadorians burn in new year's eve after filling it with explosive fireworks. Soot. Coal. Burnt bread. After a first sip, it gave me a heavy toffee note, mixed with sawdust, hazelnut. For just one second i got a citric Naranjilla note that made me go "wtf, where did that came from?". Clove. It is SUPER COMPLEX. Milk powder, vanilla, swamp water and passionfruit. IT HAS EVERYTHING. On the palate, this might be the greatest experience i have lived through a whisky. It starts with vanilla for a second, Then a bomb of sawdust, mix with salted water with peat; it felt exactly as that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, where the corsair is walking through his ship that is being destroyed by cannon fire, where all the wooden parts of the ship are flying everywhere and everything is exploding. It is exactly that. Gunpowder. MEATY, LOVELY. Vanilla, it even tasted like blood (iron like). Aftertaste is the continuation of this madness. Sawdust, powerful smoke, really a great, awesome stuff. Burnt bread, very metallic. Iron or copper like. Plastic, silicon and Flare. Overall, i need more of this. I need every whisky to be like this one. The experience, the power, the balance, the craziness; everything is delivered perfectly. One of the single malts i will remember for years, the surprising Ardbeg Scorch. My score for it, can only be, a 100 over 100. Slàinte Mhath.

I’m happy I waited a while before writing this review. The bottle on first opening was a mess, with no cohesive flavors or profile except sharp, bitter heat. Now, almost a year after opening, it seems to have settled down into a drink that resembles decent single malt, even if it doesn’t exemplify the standard. Nose is Ardbeg, but not obviously so. It’s missing the grassy hay notes I associate with the 10 year, but that’s okay because they are replaced with a nice meatiness. Think opening a pack of cold cut ham versus a slab of smoked pancetta. There’s also a whiff of bakery and sugar, like you’d get when popping the top off of a cake carrier. It’s not the most engaging, but it’s certainly not bad. Palate is still a bit scattered for me. When I take small sips, like i want to evaluate and pick apart the individual flavors, it feels thin and still a little hot and unrefined. There’s peat and iodine and rubber, which aren’t objectionable but quickly move to drying smoke and ash in a rather short finish. But when I take a large swig and swirl it around it displays a richness and depth that is quite nice. Cigar smoke, raw tobacco, and leather dominate, and the dry smoke is just a background taste that carries through to a medium-long, clean, finish. It’s not a bad drink in the least, but for just under $200 there are literally hundreds of others that are just as good or better, for much, much less. Try it if you can find it in a bar, but stick to the 10 year or Wee Beastie when you’re in the liquor store.

I told myself I'd never go back....and here I am. Another over priced NAS ardbeg. Why do I hate myself so? Nose - That weird vanilla meets almost baby vomit or sour milk thing you get on younger peated whiskies comes right out to me. There's more smoked oak than normal. Mint. An irish springs soap. It's a weird ardbeg but it's ardbeg. I could use some lemon. Taste - Burnt clay and intense iodine peat jumped out and then you get this roasted and burnt oak...they nailed the "scorched" aspect of this, way better than I expected. I'd have bet a lot of money against them here. This is a giant massive peat bomb hitting on all cylinders. If you love peat and you liked overly charred barrel, you can't really go "wrong" but is it great? Is it good? That's where I struggle. I get the off notes of youth though turned down vs blaaack or drum or some of these other trash ardbeg's of late. It's not as refined as the Arrrrdbeg, but that thing was so refined, yet not old...it was boring. After the initional smoke bomb note, I now get candy cigarette, powered sugar, and some sweet oak notes. There's some pine and winter green mint notes to round this one out. A bold and for once I'm going to admit well put together gimmick from ardbeg. Worth of 2 stars and I finally can at least say, at least ardbeg didn't steal my money on an LE. Would I buy again? Nah. But hey it's a good enough whisky to try once and this bottle will be around a bit. Wish I"d gotten 2 of these instead of 2 blacks though...god that sucked.

Nose: Unmistakably Ardbeg - peat, smoke, brine. Meaty - smoked black pepper bacon. Brown sugar and vanilla, char and barrel smoke. Lemon. Wintergreen. Strawberries and bananas. Chocolate, leather - anique leather furniture. Cardamom, cumin, cilantro. Charred green bell pepper. Nutmeg and anise. Not super dark and deep, but a solid amount of density and complexity going on here. Palate: Ash, smoke, peat. Black pepper, nutmeg, anise, wintergreen. Brown sugar, vanilla. Oak and char - like you find in bourbon. Good tannin. Dill, thyme, mint, orange. Clove. Bitter chocolate, leather, and tobacco. Midrange and mid-palate focused. Mediumn mothfeel. Finish: A splash of citrus oil ethanol-y goodness. Black pepper and charred oak slide into place. Campfire and ash, s'mores. Cigar tobacco, leather. Wintergreen, sugar, and bitterness linger for a good while, with really appealing oil content. Long length that cotinues to evolve. Other notes: A novel Ardbeg, and one that delivers on what it sets out to do. An enjoyable experiment, this adds a little bit of bourbon flair to your classic Ardbeg character. If you find yourself rolling your eyes at Ardbeg's special releases, I mighht skip this one since it colors outside of the lines. However, if you enjoy Ardbeg's propensity for exploring maturation options, this would be an easy suggestion. I might even try to get my hands on another bottle. Cheers!

Nose: vanilla bean, tar, charred wood, coconut, milk chocolate, almost an almond joy, balanced in the consistency on the nose, very full. The peat is very present, but not accompanied by any brine or medicinal notes. the charred wood is definitely stronger than the peat. Palate: charred oak, burnt vanilla, toward the backend the peat shows itself more in the form of almost tar (in the best way). Extremely thicccc mouthfeel Finish: long, creme Brulee sweetness, and strong peat Overall, I do not think this is the most complex Islay I've ever had. That being said, I think this is the most full and high quality peated scotch I've ever tried. I personally don't think a whiskey has to be complex to be good, but in my mind I do think it has to be well executed. While I'm no peat head, I can say that this release is well put together and extremely balanced, despite aging in casks supposedly charred by a fire breathing dragon.

I’d initially thought this was better than the GR and maybe it is ever so slightly. But the proof doesn’t overcome the fatal flaw of the execution of the concept. It’s young, all over the place, and just not pleasant to drink. What’s even worse is you can’t really give it any style points for trying something different. It just ends up tasting like licking the bottom of a really old ash tray that also had bubble gum or something in it. Glad I only got a half bottle. I’d only stumbled upon these special releases a few years ago as I was new to scotch but of course heard about the legend of the alligator, and I’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few of the old special releases since tasting this. All I have to say by way of comparison is, this ain’t no dark cove.