Ardbeg Distillery Launches Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength
Ardbeg Distillery has announced its latest Committee Release: Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength, a cask strength version of the distillery’s flagship expression.
Traditionally, Ardbeg fills its casks at 63.5% ABV, but in 2015, the whisky creation team experimented with filling casks at their natural, undiluted strength. Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength is a marriage of hand-selected American oak bourbon casks – including some casks filled with undiluted new-make spirit – and is bottled NCF (Non Chill-Filtered) at 61.7% ABV, the highest strength of any Committee Release to date.
Official tasting notes for Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength follow:
Aroma: Rich, earthy, smoky and spicy, with a marvellous combination of toffee, tar and creosote, coffee grounds and sea spray. Subtle hints of vanilla and lime manage to fight their way through the smoke, and a few drops of water release some classic Ardbeggian scents, like fennel and bonfire embers.
Taste: The texture is mouth filling and noticeably spicy, and the palate is surprised by an immediate and intense sweetness, reminiscent of smoked cinnamon and paprika. This is then followed by enormous waves of smoky notes – soot, tar, creosote, peat moss and woodsmoke to name a few, but the smokiness is always balanced by a gentle malty or biscuity flavor.
Finish: Mentholic and almost cooling, with hints of eucalyptus and antiseptic lozenges.
Ardbeg Ten Cask Strength will be available at select retailers beginning late February for a suggested retail price of $89.99.
Source: Ardbeg.