ARDBEG DAY 2019 : CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL WITH A SURPRISE TWIST

THIS YEARS SPECIAL RELEASE : THE ARDBEG DRUM

Every year there is a special motto for the Ardbeg Day. 2018 saw the Peat & Love Festival, reviving the flower-power era with the Ardbeg Groove. The Ardbeg Day 2017 and its special bottling Ardbeg Kelpie were all about Kelpie and other mythical creatures. Storytelling and colourful goings on and this year the Scottish distillery celebrates a Caribbean carnival: The Ardbeg Day 2019 will take place on June 1st on Islay and the Ardbeg Drum will be launched, a whisky that was finished in American rum casks. 

Drum is the first whisky released by Ardbeg with a finishing period in rum casks! It was initially matured in ex-bourbon casks before being transferred over to casks that had previously held rum from the Americas. The result pits the classic savoury smoke of Ardbeg's spirit against the bright, fruity notes introduced by the rum casks - a wonderfully tasty juxtaposition!

Its not yet certain whether its "Drum" because a Caribbean Steel Drum is so important for that Caribbean feeling, or "Drum" because it’s Ardbeg DRum – a whisky with a special twist formed by the finish in rum casks. Anyway – this year’s Ardbeg Day promises was as colourful as last year’s.

And like every year, there was an Ardbeg Day Committee Release of the Ardbeg Drum, available only to club members and only available online directly from Moet Hennessy or in the distillery itself. On 01 June, collectors and Ardbeg fans were seen striving to stay hands-on to get a chance to get their hands on one of those Ardbeg Drum Committee Releases at 52% ABV.

Tasting Notes:

Nose: In Drum, fragrant pine resin and woodsmoke dance alongside ripe banana and pineapple in a downright wondrous paradiddle of aromas, before parading into smoked apples and dry cocoa powder. Distant ginger, spiced dates and cinnamon sway into floating notes of lavender.

Taste: On the palate, waves of smoke, tar and creosote cascade into a dry peppery mouthfeel. Clove, liquorice and ginger strut towards rich notes of dark chocolate and smoked vanilla.

Finish: Intense smoke, roasted coffee liqueur and a treasure trove of sweet spices come together in one deliciously complex crescendo.

ALSO TO RELEASE 19 YO: FIRST AGE STATED WHISKY IN 20 YEARS

Ardbeg is also all set to release a 19-year-old single malt Traigh Bhan, its first permanent age-stated whisky to be released in nearly 20 years.

Named after Islay’s Traigh Bhan beach, known locally as the Singing Sands, the whisky will be available in limited batches produced on an annual basis. The whisky’s recipe is set to change with each batch, creating ‘subtle differences’ between future iterations. Each batch of Ardbeg Traigh Bhan will feature a unique code on the carton and bottle, which drinkers can enter into the distillery’s website to find out more about the ‘story’ of the whisky.

Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s director of distilling, whisky creation and whisky stocks, said: ‘A new, permanent aged Ardbeg is a rare occurrence, and cause for celebration.’

Ardbeg Traigh Bhan: Singing Sands ‘a perfect reflection’ of the Islay beach

Matured in American oak and ex-oloroso Sherry casks before being bottled at 46.2% abv, Ardbeg Traigh Bhan’s 2019 expression is said to have ‘intense and rugged’ notes of ‘smoked chilli chocolate and paprika’ with ‘waves of toasted oak and roasted tea leaves’ on the palate.

The first batch of Traigh Bhan will be released in September, priced at £169 and available from specialist stores worldwide.

The last permanent age-stated expression to join the distillery’s range was Ardbeg 10 Year Old, which was introduced in 2000. Its core range currently features a series of no-age-statement single malts named after geographical features of the distillery’s island home, including Corryvreckan, Uigedail and An Oa, the last of which was introduced in September 2017.

ARDBEG DAY SPECIAL RELEASES 2016-18

Ardbeg DARK COVE recalls smuggling past Ardbeg Day 2016

Ardbeg released its Dark Cove expression as the brand’s annual Ardbeg Day turned to Ardbeg Night to remember the island’s smuggling activities. A no-age-statement, non-chill-filtered, limited edition whisky, Dark Cove is made from liquid matured in Sherry casks, married together with “hallmark” ex-Bourbon cask Ardbeg.

Dark Cove recalls how early distillers would smuggle whisky from Ardbeg Cove into black-painted ships. So substantial was the illicit whisky trade between the island of Islay and mainland Scotland that excise officers stationed a revenue cutter offshore to intercept smugglers’ boats.

Ardbeg KELPIE Launched on Ardbeg Day 2017

Named after the ‘Kelpie’ – a legendary water demon said to live in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Islay coast – the new expression is the first Ardbeg whisky matured in Black Sea oak casks. An Ardbeg that's said to be "as deep as the ocean," and bottled for Fèis Ìle 2017 at 46%, the Kelpie, when mischievous as a water spirit, might take the form of a horse, or a bull, and may have claws, or be a dog with the head of an ant that flies. 

Sourced from the Adyghe Republic in Russia by Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s director of distilling, whisky creation and whisky stocks, the casks are said to impart ‘incredibly deep flavours’ to the whisky, which is then married with traditional Ardbeg, aged in ex-Bourbon barrels.

Ardbeg GROOVES Ardbeg Day Release 2018

As expected, the Islay-based distillers created a most intriguing expression, a mellow whisky that proves all you need is love – and peat. Ardbeg harked back to the 1960s ‘Summer Of Love’ with its latest Ardbeg Day limited release, Ardbeg Grooves.

For this year’s bottling, Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation and Whisky Stocks Dr Bill Lumsden has matured part of the whisky in re-toasted red wine casks. These casks were intensely charred to create heavy grooves in the surface of the wood, designed to produce more intense flavours of ‘smoked spices, distant bonfires and chilli-seasoned meats’.

Ardbeg Grooves is bottled at 46% and is a time-limited edition, priced in the £95-100 region. A presumably 6-10 YO that is not all that complex, but just right for the prey theme. A satisfying pour of whisky, in a lineup that’s tough to compete within. The wine-finished elements are shy, perhaps too shy! Ignoring the expectations of wine-influences, this is a pretty good modern scotch with plenty of spice and lots of sweetness.