Ardbeg Scorch
46% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Moderate peat smoke wafting over a layer of oak wood spices, fruits, and vanilla. Entertaining the "stretch notes", I’m finding a peppery pine forest somewhere in this dram.
Taste: Great wafts of meaty, peat smoke, with wood spices, liquorice, and black pepper.
Finish: The complexity wears off rather quickly, but tasty smoke and oak is left behind.
I don’t have too much else to add for this review… I admittedly let myself get distracted reviewing the amazing content at The Ardbeg Project. It’s a fantastic website that has loads of historical information about Ardbeg and the many releases we have seen from that distillery.
But this is a whisky review not a website review, right? This is the most recent Ardbeg Day release that I have purchased—probably not too surprising… it’s not that old. Anyway, I’m definitely becoming a wee bit more conservative with my Ardbeg Day buying. I picked up the 2015 through 2017 releases (Perpetuum, Dark Cove, Kelpie), skipped the 2018 and 2019 (Grooves, Drum), but have a bottle of 202 release (Blaaack) and now this one. However, I didn’t buy the 2022 Ardcore…… now I’m not really sure where I am going with all of this information, but there it is!
If you’ve made it this far, I definitely recommend the higher-proof Committee Release of the Scorch, if you have the opportunity to choose between, but this one is quite good on its own. As is often the case, it’s the price that is the shame and not the spirit within the bottle.
I’ll start the rumor that this is a follow-up to Ardbeg Alligator—the Ardbeg Day release from 10 years earlier in 2011—that featured the "alligator char" level 4 for the casks. I suppose that "Alligator 2" didn’t sound as impressive as Scorch (which also enabled Ardbeg to use a lot of dragon imagery for this release).
Details: Ardbeg Day 2021 Release. Matured in ex-Bourbon casks.
Tasting Notes (Official): Matured in our most heavily charred ex-Bourbon casks, fragrant patchouli interlaces with bold notes of quenched steel and saddle soap. Billowy clouds of sweet smoke and charred oak permeate the palate, as briar wood, sage, and pine wisp their way to the fore. So puff out your chest and breathe out our fiery spirit!
Tasted 08 January 2023. (Posted 01 May 2023.)
