Whisky : Ardbeg Drum Committee Release; 2019 Limited Edition

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 52%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon, Ex-American Rum Casks

Nose : Fruit BBQ: charcoal blackened breadfruit, grilled plantains, and a spritz of antiseptic cleaner.  Tropical fruit buffet of cherimoya, dragonfruits, and bananas attached to a smoked oyster bar.

Palate :  A little bit of a lot of things: fruit, charred fruit skin, spice, and citrus.  The wife landed on anko, or sweet red bean paste, as the best way to describe it.  I leaned a bit more toward an over caramelized— in fact probably a little burnt— banana.  There are lovely fruits and charcoal, but overall the body of the dram is a bit thin and light without any real oomph. 

Finish :  Drops off a bit quick with a sweet kiawe or mesquite smoke lingering on the palate.

Score : 3

Mental Image : Burnt red bean pastry.

Something Better : Ardbeg Grooves (more meat, more bbq, more body/complexity)

Something Similar : Glenfiddich Fire & Cane (similar body, less fruit, more malt/spice)

Something Similar : Braeval 8Y SMWS 113.22 (similar caramelized banana, more spice, better body)

Notes : It is as if someone tried to slap me but totally whiffed— all I feel is the breeze.  That is how I might describe the experience of this dram.  It was much more subtle and quiet than I expected.  I really enjoyed Ardbeg’s 2018 Limited Edition, Grooves, it was just right up my alley.  The red wine and heavy char produced a rich and pleasant dram, two words that I would not use to describe this one.  In addition to Grooves, I also really enjoyed Glenfiddich’s Fire and Cane, another vatting of peated malts (and unpeated in that case) with a finish in South American Rum casks.  I was really hoping that Drum would fall somewhere between these two excellent bottles— combine the great mouthfeel and intensity of Grooves with the wonderful combination of peat and fruit in Fire and Cane.  I hoped it would be the perfect marriage of these two drams, elevating the experience of peat and rum to another level.

While I felt as though this was perhaps one of the weakest Ardbeg Limited Editions, there are enough positive reviews that I think it is fair to say this edition was divisive rather than universally panned.  And with the next Ardbeg Limited Edition for 2020 on the horizon, it felt like I had better quit sitting on this review and just go ahead and post it.