Whisky : Ardbeg 8 Year SMWS 33.48 “May flowers and Swarfega”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 59.8%

Cask : Refill Hogshead

Age : 8 Year (Distilled Oct. 1993, Bottled Sept. 2002)

Nose : Funky, smokey, and herbal.  Surprisingly lactic like a soft Farmer’s cheese compounded with grassy herbs.  Notes of lemon grass, thyme, and chives mixed with dried earthy notes.  Slightly reminiscent of Hakushu with green apples, strawberries in champagne jelly, and matcha pastries.

Palate :  Thick and funky with medicinal herbs, soft cheese, and fish.  The maritime profile took hold with salt, ash, and herbs from roasting fish.  Oily notes came forward with rotisserie chicken herbs, fat drippings, and citrus.  Toward the end came fish oil, or medicinal ointment, along with a green wood smoke and creamy soft cheese.

Finish :  Lingering mild sweet herbs with a medicinal edge.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Taters with Fresh Cheese & Fat Drippings Potatoes

Notes : The wife described this as young and feisty.  It reminded me of a Ledaig with some of its creamy-cheesy funk.  This struck me as a missing link between the 1970s Ardbeg the wife and I tried and the modern day 10 Year.  It was surprisingly herbal and I really enjoyed how that played with some of the creamier and smokier notes.  We sampled this bottle for the two year anniversary of our little local whisky club and the year anniversary of the last time we met in person for a dram.

Overall, this ranked at top of the evening for most people and beat out two other malts that spent more than three decades in the cask.  It was definitely an interesting bottle and easily my favorite IB Ardbeg at this point.