Whisky Review: Ardbeg Spectacular (2024)

FAQs

Is Ardbeg a good whisky? ›

Frequently Bought Together. For peat lovers, Ardbeg 10 Year Old is probably the highest-quality 'entry-level' single malt on the market, and the distillery many Islay connoisseurs would choose as their favourite. A whirlwind of peat and complex malty flavours.

Islay Scotch is favored among many whisky drinkers for its distinctive peaty and smoky flavors, and within the category, Ardbeg's offerings are some of the most highly sought after in the world.

Ardbeg Ten Years Old is revered around the world as the peatiest, smokiest, most complex single malt of them all. Yet it does not flaunt the peat; rather it gives way to the natural sweetness of the malt to produce a whisky of perfect balance.

Ardbeg distillery (Scottish Gaelic: Taigh-staile na h-Àirde Bige) is a Scotch whisky distillery in Ardbeg on the North West coast of the isle of Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides group of islands. The distillery is owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, and produces a heavily peated Islay whisky.

2006. Ardbeg is established as part of the House of Glenmorangie within Moet Hennessy/LVMH. Production reaches 1 million litres.

Originating in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire in Scotland in the early nineteenth century, Johnnie Walker is now among the most popular and recognizable spirits brands in the world.

*In the last seven years, Ardbeg has been the most awarded smoky single malt scotch whisky.

Distilled on the remote Scottish island of Islay for more than 200 years, Ardbeg is revered around the globe as among the peatiest and smokiest, yet most complex, of all the Islay single malt whiskies.

The World's Peatiest Whisky... Octomore is the super-heavily peated single malt produced by Bruichladdich distillery, the most routinely heavily peated in the world.

These whiskies are known for their distinctive smoky flavours, which come from the use of peat during the malting process. Some popular examples include Lagavulin, Laphroaig, and Ardbeg. If you're a fan of bold, smoky flavours, these whiskies are definitely worth trying.

What does peaty mean in whiskey? ›

Peated whisky is given a smoky flavour by compounds which are released by the peat fires used to dry malted barley. The Length and intensity of exposure to the peat smoke dictates the strength of this flavour as do the characteristics of the peat itself.

There are two sorts of whisky - blended and single malt. The most popular blended is The Famous Grouse. The most popular single malt is Glenfiddich.

Their Ardbeg 10 year wades a lot farther into smoke than peat, unlike many of their other offerings. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, for the peat and brine that make this whisky so distinct are still present.

A good measure of the whisky is the measure of the peat itself. Measured in Parts Per Million (PPM), when peat gets burnt in the kiln, it releases phenols (smoke) which give a good indication of a whisky's smokey potency. One can expect Laphroaig's PPM to hit around 45. Ardbeg's PPM is around 55.