As day 3 of the Whisky Show was drawing to an end, I stopped by the Douglas Laing stand do say goodbye to Cara and Chris. Cara took my glass, and poured a straw colored dram into the glass, handing it back.
One sniff made it clear – this is an Ardbeg. Like the 10, it came from a clean bourbon cask. But deeper…much deeper than the 10, though unmistakably Ardbeg. I never had an Ardbeg 17, but this is sort of what I imagined.
This was a dream dram, requiring a token during the show.
Photo Credit: masterofmalt.com
Douglas Laing Old Particular Ardbeg 21 (48.6% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Light straw, quick legs with lots of residue droplets.
Nose: Light peat, some mineral notes, but pretty soft compared to the 10, vanilla, the dram smells very creamy with notes of powdered doughnuts.
Palate: You get the honey just before the peat comes in. As the whisky gets to the back of the mouth you get a fresh spray of lemon with some pepper in a full bodied delivery.
Linger: Sweet peat in the mouth and peppery spice in the throat, with a small note of lemon.
Conclusion
Balanced and full bodied, this is a very creamy dram. Very much an Ardbeg, with the 10’s DNA, only on steriods.
This is exactly what I would expect from an official Ardbeg 21 year old release!
I like Ardbeg!
This one sounds good….