Ardbeg’s New Committee Scotch Expression ‘Fermutation’
THE Result Of A FREAK BUT ‘Happy Accident’
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The newest expression from Ardbeg is the result of an unplanned experiment that led to the longest fermentation in Ardbeg’s history. In November 2007, The Ardbeg Distillery found that a broken boiler threatened six washbacks full of whisky. The team at Ardbeg tried to revive the boiler, but it was dead.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s director of distilling and
whisky creation, wisely decided to utilise the situation as an opportunity to
experiment. He had the washback lids thrown open to expose the
contents to the Islay air. And that began a three week-long fermentation, the
longest in Ardbeg’s history, which eventually gave rise to a wild and zingy
spirit. The wages of sin! With an apt name, Fermutation.
Ardbeg’s director has always wanted to experiment with
longer fermentations, so an unintentional boiler breakdown was truly fortuitous.
Ardbeg is usually fermented for 72 hours, thus making prolonged fermentation
over three weeks unchartered territory. The outcome is a dram that tastes like
pure science fiction. Peat and smoke meld beautifully with fresh, floral flavours,
while sharp, more malty notes give Ardbeg Fermutation a uniquely zingy profile.
Ardbeg’s distillery management wasn’t so immodest. Sometimes,
blind luck is just a part of the way they do things at Ardbeg. But the creation
of Fermutation wasn’t simply good fortune. Quick thinking, ingenuity and a
little assistance from tiny beings in the atmosphere helped Ardbeg get there.
At 13 years old, this is an aged Ardbeg – something fans will be delighted to
get their hands on. My previous post on Ardbeg's history stopped at developments in 2021. This post can be read as the continuation of that comprehensive history at this link.
As a Committee-only bottling, Ardbeg Fermutation is
only available to members of The Ardbeg Committee at this time for a suggested
price of $199.99. It is easy to join the Committee, routing through the
distillery’s website.
Ardbeg Femutation official tasting notes:
Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 49.4%
Ageing casks: Ex-bourbon casks, both 1st and refill
Chillfiltered: No
Additional colouring: No
Age: 13 Years Old
Color: Pale Straw
Average price: $199.99
Owner: Moet Hennessy
Nose: Fresh, floral, herbal and tart. Hints of mixed
herbs and cedar wood. Zesty hints of smoked orange and grapefruit, lots of
menthol and peppermint. With water, powerful bursts of diesel oil, tar, fresh
paint and aniseed. As this dies down, a memory of freshly cut hay, and the
tiniest hint of something savory, like yeast extract or bread dough.
Taste: A lively, vibrant, sharp, ‘zingy’ texture,
leading into very firm, distinctive flavours – malty/biscuit tones, powerful
aniseed, cardamom, antiseptic lozenge, sweet mint toffee and cigar ash.
Finish: Finally, a lingering, salty, firm aftertaste of
mint, tar, oak tannin & leather.
Ardbeg
Traigh Bhan 19 YO Batch 3
Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46.2%
Ageing casks: Ex-American oak and ex-Sherry
Chillfiltered: No
Additional colouring: No
Owner: Moet Hennessy
Average price: € 340.00
Peat is a form of fossil fuel not only burned in
hearths across Scotland, but for over two centuries peat has fired the Ardbeg
distillery kilns on Islay’s southern coast. And put it on the map as the
distillery that produces some of this world’s best whiskies. Consider Traigh
Bhan.
Traigh Bhan is Ardbeg’s 19-year old single malt Scotch whisky aged in American oak and Oloroso sherry casks. This permanent expression is produced in a single batch released yearly, and with slight changes to cask selection, each batch reflects notes distinct to its own.
When Ardbeg’s first edition of Traigh Bhan dropped in
2019, fans of the 19 year old Islay malt that was the latest (and oldest)
addition to the distillery’s permanent lineup jumped for joy. Now Traigh Bhan
has settled into annual batch status, which Ardbeg describes as “rare and
ever-changing,” with slight changes to cask selection with each release.
Nicknamed “Ardbeg’s lockdown liquid,” Traigh Bhan
19-Years-Old Batch 3 came to age during the global pandemic when closed
distillery doors meant uncertainty for its disgorging and bottling. At last,
Head Whisky Creator Dr. Bill Lumsden along with a skeleton distillery team
released Traigh Bhan Batch 3 from its casks. As described by Ardbeg, The main
difference with Batch 3 is that it has been imbued with an altogether
more fragrant, spicy character, says the distillery.
An Ardbeg fan couldn’t be happier with the more
fragrant expression of wood smoke, pine tar, mineral salt, and satsuma that
this dram delivers. The peat-soot nose is earthy but clean, given the proximity
of a nectar sweetness and mineral vein. Notes of lemony furniture polish are
also thick on the nose. The deeper it is breathed in, the more the nose opens
to the braidings of sweet, salty, smoky, an amalgam of scents fans are quite
fond of.
The palate is surprisingly spicy with a bright cayenne
or eucalyptus heat. It offers a heavy maritime character, with notes of oyster
shells and both lemon and lime adding some sharper citrus elements to the mix. The heat flares back across the palate and
quickly overpowers initial notes of toffee, fennel, and citrus peel. As the
citrus notes slowly fade, the whisky retreats to a more straightforward, rather
ashy quality, stuffed full with briny peat. Added water creates a waxiness that
tames the heat and makes possible more enjoyment of the peat and age that
Ardbeg has to offer.
Ardbeg
‘Ardcore’: New Punk Rock Limited Edition
Ardbeg Day is held annually on the final Saturday of
Islay’s Festival of Music and Malt (Fèis Ìle), and generally it’s a celebration
of all things Ardbeg. It’s set for June 4th this year, online and at the Ardbeg
Distillery. And to celebrate the upcoming events, Ardbeg launched a new “punk
rock” expression, Ardcore.
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 50.1% for Ardbeg Committee Members, 46.0
otherwise.
Ageing casks: Ex-American oak and ex-Sherry
Chillfiltered: No
Additional colouring: No
Owner: Moet Hennessy
Average price: $225.00
According to a spokeperson at Ardbeg Distillery, Ardcore
draws inspiration from Islay’s little-known punk past, celebrating the
characters of “Punk Ellen,” a nickname for Islay’s main port, Port Ellen, in
the 1970s.
Created with Black Malt Barley, Ardcore is a first for
Ardbeg. The label adds: Aromas of Dark Chocolate and Brittle Toffee clash.
While amped up notes of Aniseed and Charcoal elbow their way to the fore. It’ll
Punk-ture your palate and trash your Taste Buds. This is Ardcore.
From a Distillery with more ups and downs that a
pogoing punk comes Ardcore. Created with roasted black malt, roasted to the
extreme, this spirit is all about what happens up front i.e. centre stage. The
malt is what defines its distinctive profile. Described as tasting like ‘biting
on a spiky ball’, Ardcore is a dram that wears its heart on its sleeve… its
black heart! Bill Lumsden should know; The Glenmorangie Signet (now from its
own LMVH stable) was the first ever Super Premium single malt whisky featuring roasted malt!
There are some in the whisky community that seem to get very upset with Ardbeg’s shenanigans. The funny names and brightly coloured labels provoke seemingly endless complaints on social media. The others take a lighter approach and quite like the fun of it all. Whisky is meant to be fun. We don’t actually have to take it so seriously, all the time. I canot agree. This is serious money and folks should give it its due.
Regarding Ardcore, one sometimes wonders what came first, the whisky or the marketing concept? Obviously the spirit was laid down some years back so it’s been in the pipeline for a while but did master blender Bill Lumsden decide the whisky was ready and prompt a mad dash to come up with a marketing concept for it or did the marketing team come up with Ardcore and ask Dr Bill to find something in the warehouse that could fit the brief? Naah. The Signet is a success story. Ole Bill always had it up his sleeve.
Nose: Lots of thick Ardbeg smoke. Coal fires. Soot. A touch of that famous medicinal TCP note that’s unique to Islay. The roasted barley is there too. Spicy and savoury, Ardcore grips the senses with
waves of marmite, burnt toast, chicory charcoal and infused coffee grounds
making for a mosh pit in the glass. Like a safety pin through the septum, a
classic Ardbeg herbal top note is present, while swirling, smoky bonfire and
molasses loiter backstage.
Palate: A jaw dropping spicy and fiery mouthfeel leads
to an explosion of rich, smoky flavours – cocoa powder, dark chocolate, peanut
brittle toffee, smoked lime and a suggestion of soot and bonfire embers all
pogo in unison on the palate. A big mouthful with a pleasant oily texture. Brine. The aromas of stony beaches and seashells evaporate off the palate. Thick, almost acrid smoke like sitting too close to a campfire. Amped up aniseed and malty biscuit elbow their
way to the fore, punkturing taste buds.
Finish: In an altogether sweeter finish, long,
lingering notes of treacle toffee, soot and smoke make for an anarchic, but
delicious, aftertaste.
Ardbeg Ardcore Committee Edition became available this May 1st at $149.99. The general release will be available from June 1st at a suggested retail price of $124.99. Is the bottle of whisky “worth” £150? Or even £125? In the grand scheme of things, probably not. It won’t be for everyone but fans of Ardbeg won’t be disappointed.
Ardbeg
- Arrrrrrrdbeg 2021 Committee Release Whisky
Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 51.8% Cask Strength
Ageing casks: American Rye
Chillfiltered: No
Additional colouring: No
Owner: Moet Hennessy
Average price: $400.00
Ardbeg Arrrrrrrdbeg (with seven ‘r’s) was made available to members of the distillery’s committee in late 2020. It has been created to commemorate a key event in Ardbeg's history, the change at the helm as Distillery Manager and Committee Chairman. It’s been matured in ex-rye casks, which provides an appropriately intense lift to one of the smokiest of Islay scotches.
Tasting notes:
Colour: Pale lemon yellow.
Nose: Aromas of gunpowder, smoked banana and pears
drift into some rye bread, sweet vanilla toffee and a gentle aniseed breeze.
Taste: A blunderbuss ignites fruity aromas such as
melons and kiwis. A spicy mouthfeel leads into a further burst of fruity flavours
such as pear, melon, limes & bananas, followed by aniseed, smoked toffee
and sourdough bread. A definitive sweetness comes through this smoke- notes of
toffee, honey and sugar syrup are backed up by a suggestion of white chocolate
and a pinch of drinking chocolate powder
Finish: Hints of Brazil nuts, sea spray and the
gentlest of smoke.
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