Ardbeg Blaaack

We are going deep into Whisky Lake 2.0 today, maybe all the way to the bottom in more than one way, so I best put on my atmospheric diving suit. The exact depth is 15 Ardbeg limited releases in one go, with a current 10yo (83 pts.) as the benchmark. Yes, I have written my last will and testament. The lineup from the newest to the oldest bottling is: Smokiverse (81), Spectacular (82), Heavy Vapours (77), Ardcore (76), Scorch (83), Blaaaack (81), Drum (79), Grooves (80), Kelpie (83), Dark Cove (84), Perpetuum (80), Auriverdes (83), Ardbog (87), Galileo (85), Alligator (88). Compared to my previous scores for the bottles I've already tasted, only Auriverdes felt a bit better this time than the first time I tried it many, many years ago. Unsurprisingly, both myself and the tasting panel voted Alligator, Ardbog, and Galileo as the best three. For me the bottom of the barrel was Ardcore with its offensive blandness and youth, but the whole tasting panel voted it the 2nd worst in the lineup, disliking Heavy Vapours even more. Thanks for the tasting, Maija & Pete! Returning to Blaaack after 4 and 1/2 years I find even less to like than I did before. Maybe this is one of those bottles that benefits a little from having been open a while? Still, the aroma salted blackcurrant juice on the nose and in the taste that comes from the casks does not do any favors to the distillate. Why use these trick casks? Is it because all the money LVMH has made off Ardbeg somehow isn't enough to buy a decent sherry cask or two?

I am pleasantly surprised, very tasty.

A little too sweet for me but 87 p. The hype was a little over the top. Price up to 130 € ok.

An average good Ardbeg. Last year's bottling (drum) was much better. In the meantime the whole Wine-Cask finish bottlings get on my nerves. Almost all of them taste watery and are far from a good old oak cask or similar.

with water: nope, the malt is almost too watery anyway Conclusion: the combination is very successful and knows how to please, especially the nose is really good and has something surprising to offer with the baby carrots. There are drawbacks for the slightly thinner finish, maybe 1-2 years more maturity would have been better here

Nice, great nose, in the mouth and in the finish it drops extremely, just briefly and away, the nose is convincing, the rest looks young and immature

NOSE: Sweet, smoke, rounded ashes, sweet cigar box, ripe oranges, red berry jam. Lovely nose. (89p) TASTE: Rounded, slight sweetness, fruitiness, high quality red berry jams and marmalades, (89p) EXIT: A bit short. A little pepper. (86p) OVERALL: A successful wine finishing! TOTAL SCORE 88 points.

Nose : meat, fat, vanilla, geranium. Taste : meringue tart with lemon Finish : on the lemon, the citric side.

Good level of sweetness, quite balanced and rather easy drinkable, really not bad

Color – crushed brick. Aroma – grape peel, red berries, sweetness, berry basket, sourness. The taste is smooth. Peat, sweetness, wild berries, stewed strawberries. As an appetizer for meat, tartar, rack of lamb. Pleasant, soft, wonderfully tasty whisky.

Nose-87; Taste-87; Finish-87.

The nose excited me a lot. While the palate couldn't quite follow in its footsteps, overall that leads to a really good rating.

very excited for this one. hope its will be better from the committee version.

Nah you. I didn't even think that well. For me neither meat nor fish. Hardly Ardbeg is really drowned in wine, either. If you take a quick look at the price ..... yes then

Much like Kelpie before it, Blaaack is too cask-driven, which stops me from enjoying it.

Coastal peat, chocolate, tobacco, easy to drink but lacks a bit of personality, easy to sip though.

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While very tasty, the slightly higher abv version does have a bit more flavor. Similar in fashion and a great Ardbeg LE

A good bottling of the often maligned annual release. However, sold out quickly and only available through auction sites or through bottle flippers at too high prices.

A very average special edition from Ardbeg, nothing bothers, nothing really shines. The Pinot Noir influence is solid but creates an atypical Ardie; my first one with no salt and no citrus I think, which is kinda weird. For the full review, go here: https://keinehalbendrinks.de/2023/07/23/ardbeg-sample degradation/

The aroma is wine sweetness, grapes(!), caramel, sweets, pleasantly framed by peat. Taste - best balance, sourness of fruits, berries, peat, excellent! Still my top choice)

In contrast to the previous year, Ardbeg finally delivers clean work with both the Committee and the Limited / General version of the Blaaack. I particularly like the way the distillery character is played here, this shifting between berry fruits from the wine barrels and lemony Ardbeg ashtray. The influence of the wine barrel is not too dominant, rather the wine barrels provide a flavor complement without flattening the other character.

interesting that it can be so sweet without getting sticky in the finish or appear syrupy - a light sweet biscuit fruity malt with subtle smoke for an Ardbeg. designed to be mass-compatible - would be worth the price of a laphi lore ~ 60 € until recently - but I'm not a fan boi either - price not rated!

Great whisky. Pinot cask definitely did a favor to it.

Intensity: medium Sweet with some citrusy and flora note, a lot of fresh tropical fruit, pineapple, flora, malt, glue, plum. Some chinese preserved duck egg ( i google it and some name it as "Century Egg") Sourness, dry, sweet, some bitterness which i always get from Ardbeg.

S 8 Opened for 2 years, time to re-assess. Conclusion: Flavours still holding strong despite the fading peat. Another earthy, ashy Ardbeg with a twist of juicy red fruits, what’s not to like? [86-89] YES!!! One to be tasted and remembered for years. I'll buy a bottle whenever possible. N 27 Clearly heavily peated. Earthy peat placed side by side with handfuls of red/citrusy fruits (grapefruits, cherries, dark grapes). Savoury yet also slightly sweet. A whiff of smoked oak. A whiff oily. Fast forward 15mins and getting honey cake. P 26 Ashy peat. Bonfire smoke. Red fruits basket. Salted caramel. A touch of oak bitterness. Heated peppery spices underneath. F 25 Long, slightly meaty finish. Drying oak. A mild touch of juicy fruits lingering. The faint oaky wax just won’t let go even if I drank a full glass of water.

red wines can be a hit or miss for me, this one does well!

Nose: Very fresh wine, apple, peat, red berries, grape Taste: Peat, smoke, grape, sourness of wine Finish: Peat, smoke, bitterness of coffee

nose on the smoke, a maritime side, a little soot, citrus fruits, a cocoa and barbecue return, the juices roasted on the cast iron! Fruity mouth, then smoke more than peat, even direct ash, peppery spices, strawberry, if and yet I haven't eaten before !, and the burnt wood which gives off smoke ; more fruit later on juicy cooked peach. Final on red fruits, smell of dirty port at low tide and the black smoke in the distance which comes in a pack of small clouds.

The more I drink this the less I like it. Not sure why I liked it as much as I did when I first got it early last year? I'm now into my second bottle and the flaws are becoming more pronounced the more I drink it. This is a really weak scotch without much body to it.

Diluted to forty-six degrees, it became much less aggressive, and pleasant for long-term use in the company. Sweet and very bright smoky. Calmly soft. Grey aftertaste like after a weak cigarette.

Very complex and also surprisingly balanced but yet distinctively Ardbeg. There was a good interplay of flavors that gave me enough to think about but yet didn’t overstay its welcome. Its was heavy enough to give you a very lush mouthfeel but light enough that you’d pour another glass. It leans more towards a sweeter creamier side of Ardbeg that we haven't seen. URL: https://88bamboo.co/blogs/the-bamboo-post/ardbeg-blaaack-ardbeg-day-committee-20th-anniversary-46-ob-nas-2020

Interesting dram to show how well Ardbeg can handle wine casks maturation. Overall experience is sweet & peat & transiting to spicy towards the end. In my pre-historic scoring method, this is a 9/10.

beautiful, very tasty, soft, tender, peat molt

Ardbeg should be included in their core range. The red wine harmonizes incredibly well with the Ardbeg smoke.

A very successful bottling for me. The smoke note is not too extreme and intrusive, the peaty and maritime character comes into its own, the fruity grapes harmonize wonderfully with the acidic citrus aromas. Even if there is sometimes a lack of volume and "boom", the alcohol content of "only" 46% is the optimal drinking strength for me. Tastes and likes! 22/23/22/22 (89P) These tasting notes and points awarded reflect my current personal impressions, are not representative and can fluctuate due to the daily form ...

[January, 2022] A quick review of a sample... ...which is another one of these modern designed drams that mainly rely on cask effects. Do not get me wrong: This ain't necessarily bad if the profile is tasty and interesting but unfortunately, most are not and this Ardbeg is just another such "me too" dram. It owns nothing of interest to my taste buds and the taste is average only (at best) with a disappointing bitter-astringent mouthfeel and finish. If you never drank an excellent Ardbeg before this surely is an impressive dram but once you know what Ardbeg is capable of - you might be rather disappointed with such average stuff, most probably. Still the 10-years old standard Ardbeg is much better (and cheaper) than this let alone the 10-years Laphroaig CS or the 12-years Lagavulin. One for collectors and hard-core Ardbeggians only, I am afraid...

Ardbeg 2020 bottling. New Zealand Pinot Noir barrel-aged unmarked whisky.

Just as good as the Committee Release. It's very barbecue-y, with some blue cheese, and dark berries (that somehow aren't sweet).

Too expensive, too long a glass and it loses its flavor.

It seems the power of autosuggestion several black things came to mind and I don't know if the folks at Ardbeg had that in mind. Firstly, I think the weak aspect is the palate - I don't seem able to relate to that. The finish is a bit twisted but at least it was interesting twists and turns. The nose starts off being something as you would imagine it to be but takes on a different guise after tasting. This whisky seems to be a novelty, there doesn't seem to be an integration of the Pinot Noir and the peated whisky but rather both elements co-existing. I think I would prefer a cheaper Corryvreckan over this.

13-06-2020

A modern Ardbeg, the wine barrel maturation complements the distillery character quite well, I think. The berries underline the influence. For me, the maritime impression only arises in the empty glass. Overall, a good Ardbeg that seems very balanced to me, also due to the drinking strength - 10/10/2020

2020-10-21

Super young, super cute. I have incense in the finish. Not so pleasant ...

I try all the time to get the chocolate that everyone writes about here... but I can't. Smoke with a sweetness that I wouldn't call fruit sweetness. Not unpleasant, but nothing that really excites me. 71-80 – Fine, like to drink by time

1633) Ardbeg, Blaaack, The Ultimate, Committee 20th /Anniversary Limited Edition, Ardbeg Day 2020 100% matured in a New Zealand's Pinot Noir wine cask, but totally different if to compared to the most of Bruichladdich wine cask releases, this Blaaack offering a very different spectrum of flavours, but equally intriguing and that's what make the whiskies great!

The barrel influence is not extreme.

a friend of mine send me one sample and I thought its a 40$ cheap whisky and just happened to try it and was surprised. I tried it with Lagavulin 16 and feel this one ain't simple, so I am here writing the review right now, that is a really impressive whisky and worth a try.

Was hesitating for a while before I bought a whole bottle, glad I did. Not bad at all!

Well, it has been running through like a red thread for several annual releases. The nose is really impressive and complex, imk mouth is then only the back burner. This is how I feel with most Ardbegs and so no bottle will still adorn my shelf.

It has a relatively oily viscosity and its bouquet is of medium intensity. I have aromas of marine peat smoke, bacon, creme brulee, vanilla and dark chocolate. Moderately complex. Relatively sweet in taste. The alcohol is well integrated and it has a relatively heavy body.

On the palate, we encounter Ardbeg’s traditional maritime notes of seaweed and earth. The Pinot Noir contributes sweeter notes of syrup and licorice. A pleasing whisky that blends sweetness with maritime characteristics.

Available at shop.ardbeg.com for £94 5.27.2020

Better for me than the March March Committee Release, which is rarely the case with, since I usually prefer to drink kegs rather than drinking strength. Convinced me completely now. Great Ardbeg!

Eyes: Golden Scent Nose: Higher balance and softness than the regular version, slightly sour, salty, slightly fishy, plant ash, sea fish, cold jellyfish, some thick-skinned grapes, limes, black chocolate, and charred grains , Wood soaked in sea water, burning plastic bags, extinguished matches. Palate: saltier, sour, red berries, Fengshui pear, blood orange, lemongrass, salt, coal, ashes, matches, mud, dry straw , Heavy tannins, red grapes, braised pork spice, wood end rhyme Finish: long, whole wheat bread, brine, diluted milk, sweet apricots, loquat body: medium, more fat, average stimulation Nose: 85/100 Palate: 85/100 Finish: 85/100 Body: 86/100 Overall: 85/100, maybe after opening the bottle for a while, the peat smell is not very strong. Black sheep is in the middle level among the Abbes I have ever drunk. At least it is much richer than Supernova 2019 and Eternal, but there is nothing new, just like ordinary island wine (I am the default Abbe shouldn’t be ordinary? So The god-making movement is too much to be bitten.) Abbe gave me a good-looking cover character, but it turned out not to be the case when it was released. I have almost figured out Ardbeg's routines, but I don't know when Bill Leong will be able to transplant all Granger's various plays. I hope that wild yeast and Local Barley will be completed soon.

Fleeced? Ardbeg makes greaaat whisky. It’s almost impossible to argue otherwise. I’m not a massive drinker of their output but I do respect their craft. And they are one of those distilleries that just has a great way with their branding and packaging. They can do things which should, for all intents and purposes, look crass, trite or cheap but they always pull it off. It’s quite a skill. Once a year for the past 20 years they’ve been flexing those creative muscles with their fan club special edition. It’s always interesting to see what the creative brains have cooked up to excite the punters. I’ve never been tempted, but this year I cracked. (Though I’m already tempted by the design for next years Dragon themed release - already seen the leaked design on Reddit of all places!) The 20th anniversary committee release looks great and as its a peaty whisky in a wine cask, well I couldn’t resist. Blaaack is a a heady and witty mix of great marketing and humour before you even take a sip. For this alone I want to give it a slap on the back for a job well done. But we’re never really here for the bottle and the box, it’s the juice that counts. Off we go. Sweet and juicy and ashy. Travel sweets from a tin - you know the sort if you’re a certain age. It’s faultlessly Islay straight away but there’s a fruitiness to the nose that is lovely. There’s a little Juicy Fruits chewing gum in there, some red bootlace liquorice and liquorice root, brine and bicycle inner tubes. It’s full and rich and warm and sweet. It really does invite you to take a sip almost strait alway. It reminds me of the PC MRC:001 but with a sweeter aspect on the nose. Less intensely ashy, smoother and softer. Some roasted, candied nuts. In the mouth and straight away this is a peated whisky wearing the wine influence front and centre. It’s quite a fresh and zesty affair, a little tingle, lively and smoky and red fruits and wine must all arrive at one. There liquorice, smoked meat, burnt sugars, a little coffee, salt and some strawberries but it’s also, strangely, quite light. A delicate nuttiness. I was expecting something more brooding, heavier, more substantial. That’s not to say it’s in any way bad - it’s not, it’s just unexpected. It feels young too, not in a bad way, just more lively that I was expecting. Maybe it’s just me, but as a 20th anniversary thing I’d have expected something with more heft and leather and soot, more discernible age, even in a NAS bottling. But this is where we are. The finish is nice, composed and winds down and fades away a very nicely but it’s shorter than I would have liked. It’s still full and rich but I wanted it to really stick to my ribs. There’s wood and ash and wine barrels, brine and flashes of other fruits and coffee and caramel and at the death liquorice root again. So, a special bottle? I’m not sure, it drinks exceptionally easily, it’s jam packed with flavour but it’s not overly complex. It’s a great dram to sniff as well and drink but it feels younger than perhaps you’d expect (though it doesn’t feel rushed and rough). Price wise, you have to allow it to be a shade more expensive as a special release but it’s hardly a limited number of bottles, the secondary sellers maybe played themselves with this one as the secondhand market is awash with bottles for a little over retail, auctions regularly sell them for as little as £110. Perhaps they finally fleeced themselves? So, all things considered, like a lot of the current crop of endless, special edition whiskies, this is just another one of the flock. (is it special? One has to wonder). Very much worthwhile drinking if you can afford it and even affordable on the secondary market, but there’s better to be had for less pennies. I’ll have 3 ;)

A beautiful Ardbeg that can finally convince with some quality again. Of course, we don't have to talk about the current price, far from good and bad.

Very peaty. Loved it. Reminds me of ardbog with more sweetness. Red fruits, lemon, ham, tar, sea. Great!

The youthful brandy is definitely enriched by the Pinot Noir barrels, whereby the unique ''Ardbeg'' character can hardly assert itself against the influence of the barrel at first. It's a good malt, no question about it, but I'm used to it from this distillery. However, I think that the whisky for a special bottling lacks a bit of passion. Every year these bottlings are sold out extremely quickly and I don't see any significant unique selling point here compared to other, well distilled, young Islay malts with a red wine finish that makes this development appear justified. Good yes, but nothing more. I'm missing the special here, the special, for the whole Bohei around this bottling.

What an amazing whisky. I love darker but at the same time avoiding that Sherry Cask taste when i can. The whisky is smoky as you would expect from Ardbeg but also fruit and spice play heavy here. A lot of Ardbeg's can start tasting similar but there is a lil more wood and fruit zing to this. If a 50% version was available I think that would top this off as one of the best whiskys of all time.

Again a delicious Ardbeg for Ardbeg Day compared to the not so great bottlings before; would also be suitable for Ardbeg beginners, but the price / performance ratio remains problematic.

A good Ardbeg, you can clearly see the red wine barrel maturation. In the end, however, the finish is surprisingly thin. Almost dead diluted. Still delicious tasty malt.

Sample Year after year Ardbeg turns out a NAS (marketing driven) committee release to pretty enthusiastic fanfare. Next year should be virgin oak no doubt. I always wonder why could they not release a 10 year cask strength committee release? People would go crazy. Probably because they simply don’t need to, but also because it would set a age statement precedent they want no part of. I digress... There is not very much wine influence here, or at least not near what you’d think. That’s not a bad thing mind you, but no one can convince me either that this is that good. It’s fine, but passionless whisky. Laphroaig 10 cask strength or Lagavulin 12 smash this whisky.

Nose: Bubble gum, pulled pork, medicinal, new tires, hollowed log, manure, potato chips and of course huge peaty. Quite a nice dram.

i like ardbeg but not as some see it as the best islay whisky. this dram is nice, but considering its price i think it is massively overpriced. also the abv of 46% makes it a bit watered down. considering that this is priced mostly over 200€ i am a bit disappointed. if you like ardbeg, i guess this is something you should try.

Very, very tasty, the Pinot Noir comes through. Very pleasing and tasty Ardbeg Smoky to drink Price fits ????. Thanks Ardbeg….

A good Ardbeg with a successful red wine barrel finish

Far too expensive for me!!

**Black Sheep** For Ardbeg Day 2020 the Islay distillery launched a sheep theme. Ardbeg claims to be very different from all other distilleries on the island and therefor calls itself the black sheep. Well, well, the boys and girls of the marketing department really earn their keep. Still, it is a very interesting release, as the malt got a finish on Pinot Noir wine casks from New Zealand. Next to this limited edition Ardbeg also released a Committee Only bottling with cream colored label and at cask strength. We’ll try that one as well, but let’s start with the 46% release for us mere mortals. Ooh, this nose is pleasant! At first I get the typical peat, smoldering wood, ashes and even Wellington boots – all typical for Ardbeg – but also some nice umami and dark & sweet notes. Think marinated ribs on the BBQ, blackcurrants, nougat with hazelnuts, paprika powder, coriander and a bit of caramel. This is a very good nose. It is surprisingly creamy upon arrival. It bursts with fruit, ashes and pepper. It immediately sets the mouth aflame. The smoke becomes big, the berries dark and then suddenly citrus fruits kick in and the malt evolves towards the liquid ashtray I have so come to love. The dark and sweet notes of the wine remain present, but clearly plays second fiddle now. The finish is long and chockful of ashes, then turns very dry. A bitterness appears at the death. I’m not fond of Ardbeg’s marketing strategy and therefor sometimes try to find flaws in the product. I know, silly and narrow minded. And wrong. Honestly, this Ardbeg is absolutely delightful.

Pleasant, flattering. A welcome relief. But towards the end it gets a bit too ashy for me. 77 points.

Nose Yeast, peat, light perfume, Taste Sweet and sour, empty. Rotten wood, yeast, peat, spices. Aftertaste Long lasting. Spices and peat, soap, used engine oil. Balance Indistinct for the Peat Monster!

Ardbeg Blaaack 46% Vol. https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/157647/ardbeg-blaaack Ardbeg Blaaack Committee 50.7% Vol. https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/149464/ardbeg-blaaak Islay Smoke meats New Zealand Pinot Noir. Blind tasting -> Eye: 46% vol .: saffron colored, high viscosity 50.7% vol .: saffron-colored, high viscosity, a touch darker (?) Nose: 46% vol .: pleasantly sweet smoke, intense, chocolate, fresh, subtle citrus note, grapefruit and lemon peel come to the fore, some freshly mown grass, bacon rind in the cooling campfire, light, tender fruits, a little vanilla, pepper 50.7% vol .: more closed, but also fuller, the higher alcohol content is subtly more intrusive in the nose Mouth: 46% vol .: sweet, vegetable, slightly astringent (stronger in the aftertaste), the wood is clearly present, becoming increasingly dry, nut chocolate, cool cigarette smoke, slightly fruity, strawberry, raspberry, very good drinking strength, well-dosed seasoning, a little less complex than as hoped, except for the smoke character a rather short finish 50.7% vol .: the almost 5% vol. More are not worth mentioning (parallel ok, but rather not tasted separately), of course already fuller and more mouth-filling, rounder, more balanced, sweet chocolate, honey, less spicy, less woody, a lot more exciting, similar in terms of fruitiness, orange zest Conclusion / points: For me, this is further evidence that thinning is not always beneficial. The tension in the Committee Release is always present and the malt doesn't get boring. The 46%, on the other hand, is a wood-heavy, green mass product. This is indicated in the nose and confirmed in the mouth. By the way: whether it is a Pinot Noir barrel or not is irrelevant. This is 99% marketing blah blah and in a blind tasting nobody, really nobody, would have a clue of the kegs. Most would guess Fino, Bordeaux, European oak. I'll make every bet there. 46% vol .: 84/100 50.7% vol: 87/100

- definitely a good Ardbeg special bottling, BUT doesn't really bother me now - not necessarily better than the DRUM and clearly behind GROOVES or DARK COVE

The degree of alcohol was good for me. The base modell or the committee, it doesn't matter at all.

A typical Ardbeg - both in taste and because of the PLV, which is absurd for limited bottlings. But undoubtedly tasty, smoky and greasy, whereby the Pinot Noir appears only very shy.