Ardbeg Supernova 2019

As with ardbeg in general, the color is surprisingly pale. The nose is quite strong though with lots of smoke and peat mixed with some great umami and some surprising menthol and pine. There still nice sweetness on the nose with plenty of vanilla coming in along with a bit of light toffee scent. The complexity just in the nose is delightfully engaging and the scents are great with a nice balance - though the menthol and light pine are probabaly hit or miss (they're interesting at least). The palate is shockingly smooth and sweet with a rounded richness that brings in a lot of smoke before moving toward peat and emphasizing the numbing menthol a bit more. Although it's very smooth at this ABV, this isn't a watery whiskey - this is the good kind of smooth. There's some toffee to the sweetness. The flavors pretty much land and the complexity swirls, though it's generally subtle - about on par with Johnnie Walker Green in that regard. It tastes very good though - clearly better than Glenturret 29. There's a lot of chocolate in here and also probabaly some salted licorice, but more on the fresh side than that usual dark licorice flavor (maybe it includes some fennel as the bottle claims). This could have some more overt complexity with flavors making clear statements, but in it's smooth form, this is a very sippable whiskey with a few interesting notes in the menthol, licorice, and pine divisions. It's really good. Oak comes in on the finish as the smoke smolders, leaving some of the wood unburnt, but still affected by the fire. The mouthfeel is moderate - a nice place for it to be since it isn't so light that it seems watered down or so viscous that it seems like syrup was added. This isn't one of those few whiskeys that I'm going to track down at substantial effort and buy at high cost, but it is quite enjoyable. It's sweeter than expected and that's fairly nice, though a bit odd (I sort of don't know what to make of it). I've been hovering around an 18 for a while, but the more I drink it, the more I appreciate the smoothness and balance even though it doesn't have that complexity and punch of an interesting flavor that I really love. I'm pretty tempted to move this up to a 19 because I gave the Springbank 10 a 19 and I think this is more mature, but I'm not quite prepared to do that. It's very good though. Surprisingly, it becomes harsher with water. Unfortunately, the subtleties also fade away. I don't think it's actually a 19. I'm a fan though. Just not at the price.

OK so this is going to be a different type of review. Supernova for me is not about the taste. It is about the journey that the whisky takes you on. That said lets do a quick review and then explain this. For me the nose is ardbeg and octomore meet. I get the intensity of the higher abv the clean candied cigarettes, clean malt, and that ardbeg smoke. The flavor is ardbeg and octmore with a lot of extra oak. Yeah there's more to it than that but that's my take. Now to the journey. This starts off with a smooth, high abv, intense, but smooth and inviting nose. The whisky hits the tongue and it warms it, adds some sweetness and peaty notes. It coats it and it heats up, and heats up, then as you swallow there is an honest physical explosion on the tongue. Suddenly there is a supernova like feeling where the heat comes up and the flavors completely change. Your mouth is left with this unique and I'm going to call it oaky peat but it's so much more complex and frankly unlike anything I can compare it to. Each pour the journey can take a slightly different turn but it always has this explosive change in flavors and notes. Each pour I get new notes and new flavors and honestly these are some of the most unique earthy and spicy and adbeggian flavors I know. If you say be damned with refinement, I want hair on my chest, a kick to the crotch and unbridled Ardbeg, this is without a doubt the Ardbeg you've been dreaming of. For me, someone who would like a bit more refinement, someone who loves Ardbeg 23 year or a Laphroaig 25 I still really enjoy the punch in the face. Don't buy this to sit back and ponder the great thinker's best works. This is the Ardbeg you drink when you need a slap in the face. I'm not sure it justifies the insane price point that put this near 200 after tax, but I am sure this is darn good whisky and there is no ardbeg fan who is going to be disappointed with the whisky on face value. 3.5 score but I got that high with a heavy point of caution that I believe this is priced beyond 90% of even Ardbeg's fans price point and as such 3.0 is if it's your price range BUY IT, this is worth a stretch but I'm not sure it's worth a big one vs getting a pour at a bar. I do think every Ardbeg fan should take this ride, it's truly a unique experience that I'm pretty glad I had the opportunity.

AMAZING. From the beggining to the end, this one was a dram i truly enjoyed. I have had the 2015 Supernova (the space experiment one) and that was incredible, but this one is even better. Marketing offered an abduction to your senses and i think they truly delivered it. Ardbeg Supernova 2019 was one of those NAS releases that are surrounded by certain skepticism by whisky lovers, and i have read some mixed reviews about it, but yesterday i had it, and it was one of the most powerful but balanced peated whiskies i have ever had. Bottled at 53.8%abv, amber color. On the nose, right from the first second you know something truly special has arrived to earth. Super fresh peat; chocolate, medicinal notes, bacon, super appealing. Recently done coffee, plastic, lemon, grapefruit, wet grass, a farm pond, tree sap. After a first sip, you get earthy peat, oranges, eucalyptus, cloth softener, humidity and floral notes. Crazy, interesting, intense and fabulous. The palate is very nice, sweet and spicy, with lots of character. Vanilla, grapefruit, pepper, lemon, lime, chocolate and butter. Aftertaste is out of this world. A great smoke note, one that i haven't felt in a long time on various peated whiskies i have had. Aromatic, peaty, smokey, perfectly salty, spanish ham, smoked ribs and a pepper bomb. Long lasting finish. Overall, everything is great and NO ALCOHOL NOTE WAS EVER PRESENT. For 53.8% this amount of aroma and tasting notes are incredibly well delivered, easy drinkable but powerful and flavorful. I have no points to deduct in any of the criterias of my scoring system, therefore this one is a 100 over 100 in my book. Sláinte Mhath!

Hot on the tail of Ardbeg’s elegant Traigh Bhan comes its evil alien twin, a fresh iteration in the highly peated take-no-prisoners Supernova series. There’s no information on where its peat comes in on the ppm scale, but I clearly remember the 2014 version being so potent you could smell the smoke wafting out of the bottle. The 2015 dialed the smokiness down a notch in favor of a slightly sweeter profile, and it’s that version which appears to set the template here. Neat, it’s nowhere near as immediately peaty as the last two visitations. There’s camphor and lemongrass, but it’s not grossly out of whack with a typical Ardbeg, and therefore quite lovely. In the mouth, the peat explodes and clings to the side of the tongue on first sip. Once the numbness clears a tangy sweetness emerges, followed by a long slow fade to a treacly finish. An aftertaste of chilli spice keeps you company for a while. What elevates this whisky from interesting to great is a drop of water. It’s really quite transformative. The aroma of peat is kicked up to a pleasant nasal-decongestant level, even as the anesthetic qualities in the mouth recede in favor of a good balance of pepper, sweetness and tanginess. It’s not too dissimilar to an Octomore - at least those versions that eschew wine casks - though it doesn’t match the best of that series and costs more. Still, I found myself craving another glass. A welcome invasion.

The nose is much less smokey than I expected, but smoke is clearly there. It smells coastal, a bit like a pier. It has a sweet, phenolic character. On the palate I get salty smoke, with a tingly brine on the tip of my tongue. The salt evolves and lingers. The smoke is dry at first and becomes sweet. It has a savory flavor reminiscent of smoked fish. Dry herbs, sage, pine, thyme. A bit of pepper mingles with the salt. The finish is salt, smoke, and is very astringent. I was pretty unimpressed, dare I say dissapointed at the initial experience, so I added a drop of water, something I tend not to do even with cask strength whiskey. I think this needs it. The nose becomes much more pungent- assaulting - more salty than smokey, savory smoked pork, maybe a touch of apple. It seems saltier on the tongue, harsher, more raw, like surf breaking on rocks. The sweet phenol is still there, but it gives way to a savory flavor. I do get a hint of pineapple- I still get sage, pine needles on the forest floor. The finish is long, harsh salt spray, pineapple, lingering smoke, blackened charred firewood. At this price point, it's competing with the glorious beast that is Octomore, and that is a tough sell. This is great(with water), but I think Octomore edges it out.

The smell is initially in the groove of tradition, with fleshy and marine peat not particularly pungent, which tends to fade over time leaving room for light spicy tones (cloves, pinch of pepper), orange, vanilla, lemon peel and a herbaceous touch. In the end, the smell is fresher than the usual seafaring brutality, softened even. And the palate continues on similar connotations, with the alcohol that warms without burning and that, together with the oily and marine component, brings in the mouth the same sweetness of the olfactory aromas, if possible even softer and more creamy, from vanilla cream, ripe yellow fruit, apple, orange. More spices with cloves and chilli pepper, with an adding of olive pâté. The peat is there, don't worry, mineral, smoked and fishy, but it is not the protagonist. Medium long finish, of spices, salt, orange (a lot), charcoal. Unusually quiet and drinkable, an Ardbeg almost for white souls that moves away from the comfort zone of the fans without really abandoning them, a half way that lacks personality and decision despite being a pleasant drink. The price at which it is found, it must be said, is totally off-centre and purely inflated by the market.