Whisky: Ardbeg 8 Year SMWS 33.134 “Peat roasted pig Hawaiian style”

Country/Region: Scotland/Islay

ABV:  60.9%

Cask: 2nd Fill Sherry Butt

Age: 8 Years (Distilled 24 May 2007)

Nose: Charred meat, charcoal, and earth. The sweet caramelization of brisket burnt ends, pork butt, and black pepper ribs— the meat was not falling off the bone but crunchy and caramelized on the outside, juicy and tender within. Wispy smoke from fat dripping onto smoldering charcoal intermingled with subtle earth and maritime notes; red dirt and sand whipped up by a beach park breeze.

Palate: Full-bodied and rich with meat, barbecue sauce, and mellow maritime notes. Meaty and sweet with caramelized barbecue sauce over a backbone of charcoal smoke. Hints of earth and ash lingered behind an overwhelming amount of meaty-salty pork: was it a whole roasted pig? Ribs? Or maybe just well-marinated jowl meat? The notion of pork conjured Korean barbecue with sweet and salty sauces adorning thinly sliced pork belly, cow tongue, and marinated jowls. Crusty grill grates and slightly burnt meat carried through to the end with earthy notes that brought the experience back to the beach park barbecue.

Finish: Lingering dry earthy sweetness studded with notes of salt and ash.

Score: 8

Mental Image: Meat, Fire, Feast

Notes: Wow. This Ardbeg was an incredible ride as I was left gasping for air between bites of delicious fatty and caramelized meat. Dirty, meaty, salty, this young, aggressive malt made up for any lack of complexity with an absolute meat assault on the senses. It has been a bit since an Ardbeg blew me away, and I wondered if my preferences had drifted too far from the distillery to find the joy I once did. Yet, this was a beauty. The second-fill sherry butt balanced nicely against the aggressive young peat, highlighting the barbecue and caramel notes.

I had trouble deciding whether this took me back to beach park barbecues for baby’s first luau or whether it was more like a late-night out at a Korean barbecue joint to replace the calories lost running from club to club earlier in the evening. It fell somewhere in between as a pervasive meatiness dominated the experience. I will note that the wife was a bit less enamored; while she found the nose to be amply meaty, she hit some slightly off new bicycle tire rubber notes on the palate that I did not. She still rated the dram highly but had more reservations.

Overall, a wonderfully young and aggressive Ardbeg that might as well be a unicorn bottle for just how often independently bottled Ardbeg appears anymore. We initially tried this during a Christmas whisky party with our local whisky club.