Liquid Football: Ardbeg AuriVerdes Single Malt Scotch Whisky Review

Rather like Christmas seemingly coming earlier every year (FYI ONLY 267 shopping days to go folks!) the attention on Brazil being this summer's most desirable media/product tie-in nation has well and truly begun in advance of the big event. 

Only last night did we witness the first domino falling in the commercial build up to the World Cup, with Budweiser producing an 'emotional' (their words, Lynn, not mine) black and white TV advert around the passion of football. As the official beer of the World Cup, Bud have produced some limited edition bottles clad in gold, which, will no doubt taste every bit as interesting as their current product.

But brushing aside the cynicism, there are a brace of other drinks companies who have also seized the opportunity to use the summer blockbuster as a launchpad for new products - and both of them look a lot more interesting to us.

Ballantine's have ventured into the flavoured whisky market with their newly released 'Brasil': a low ABV spirit drink (so not a whisky at all, being both flavoured and bottled at 35% abv) which is flavoured with Brazilian lime peel. Expect to see a full review on here soon, in a special feature on flavoured whiskies.

Next up comes a late entry on the team sheet, this time from Islay.

What is arguably the worst kept secret in whisky right now, Ardbeg is releasing AuriVerdes at the end of May, a limited edition bottling in homage to the summer football spectacle, but actually marking their very own celebration of Ardbeg Day, an annual event in the distillery's calendar on the 31st May, coinciding with the hugely popular Feis Ile. Expect football themed high jinks if you're heading to Islay and the Ardbeg Open Day.

A Possible Photo from Ardbeg Day 2014

So what of the liquid itself?

Well aside from the very shiny gold bottle (the regular release will be in traditional 'Verdes' green) the news is that the Ardbeg whisky creation team has been busy experimenting with freshly toasted new cask ends. With the whisky drawn from bourbon casks, the toasted ends give the 'classic' Ardbeg notes a new dimension...

Ardbeg AuriVerdes - Ardbeg Day Bottling - 49.9% -Outturn TBC 

Nose: Hot, with some distinct Ardbeg smokiness (sweet cure bacon), alongside a little dry spiciness, a big waft of vanilla pipe tobacco, expresso coffee, a touch of ginger and an injection of some lighter citrus zest -  fresh lemon and lime. It's powerful, but with a light touch alongside -  think Didier Drogba... 

Palate: More classic Ardbeg fullness, the smoke turning a little more medicinal, with greener notes (fresh orchard fruit) and something a little more savoury - sweet potato perhaps? There is a youthful zestiness at play too but the mouthfeel is superb, with more smoked meat, vanilla and a candied sweetness -  the 10 year old is a good reference point, but it has a little more depth alongside.  

Finish: Surprisingly dry, with a lingering oaky spice, some sooty residue and a last-gasp citrus bite. 

Overall: Another Ardbeg that offers a real star quality. For those who were fans of the likes of Alligator and Ardbog, this fits nicely into the extended family.  Enough of a team player, by not straying too far from the 10 year old, whilst also in possession of a few maverick tendancies.   

For more football fun, click here:

GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!

Islay Odyssey - Day Six: Single Malt Scotch Westie

Hello! it's a Jubilee Special, folks... woof. 

A crack of dawn start and both Caskstrengthers are up, washed, coiffured and ready for the final day of the Feis - Ardbeg Day.  If this was a music festival, it would be 'Islay of Wight' and Ardbeg's open day would be the headlining act; everyone piling down to this quirky south shore distillery to see just how mad the events are and what the distillery staff are wearing (last year, it was flamenco gear)

Eminem...or Mickey H?

This time around, what with some 'other'  low-key sporting event happening somewhere in the south of England the theme of the Ardbeg open day is sports related and everyone is decked out in tracksuits, trainers and sweatbands - with the 'Daley Thompson' of Ardbeg, Mr Mickey Heads himself (aka Mr H)  wearing a huge bling'y gold chain.

The Olympic-themed day had its very own opening ceremony, with the crowds invited to group together under their nation's flags:  Ridley was the proud bearer of the Cross Of St George, with 20-or-so English folks following behind. Alas, the same cannot be said for Harrison.  Carrying the flag of Norway (his other home nation) he failed to attract any Norwegian visitors, despite loudly bragging that 'we've got all the oil'.  Eventually he found some friends and the parade of nations could begin in earnest, to the strains of The Proclaimers- I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Ardbeg have always excelled at bringing in and entertaining the crowds during their open day and this year is no exception: Events ranging from sheep tossing, canine racing, (using long bungee cords and dog suits) to cask end discus a cracking 70's rock cover band and acrobatic display team.  What's not to like about that?

But of course, the whiskies on offer need to be as top notch as the entertainment and this year the masterclasses, also themed with sporting titles were excellent.  Bryony MacIntyre was back from her new exciting role in the blending labs to host a great tasting - Bryony's Phenolic Gymnastics, which demonstrated the peating levels in several expressions: Ardbeg Kildalton Four Year Old - 2008 - 60.8% (still work in progress, but full of light buttery character, fresh zesty fruits and bags of vanilla) Alligator, The Ardbeg Day festival bottling (which we reviewed here) and a new single cask sample from 2002 in first fill bourbon 57.8% (with superb soft 70's style peat, charcoal/BBQ notes and vanilla custard)

Mickey's tasting also had a superb cask sample from 1998, matured in refill sherry - perhaps one of the best examples of whisky from the modern day era of Ardbeg and hopefully destined to see the light as a single cask in the future (please)

There was a little chatter about the (not-so-secret) Galileo bottling from 1999 -  matured in wine (Marsala?) We hope to bring you more news as it comes.

The closing medals ceremony saw the various event champions awarded gold, silver and bronze - amazingly the lovely Cat from Master Of Malt and our good friend Eugene Van der Meer winning the raffle prizes of some classic Ardbeg expressions and a giant sized 4.5 litre bottle of the festival bottling (looking like a normal sized bottle in Eugene's hands!)





Altogether, a thoroughly superb way to end the Feis and once again setting the bar high for next year's festival.

Ardbeg Day

The 2nd June marks a special day on the island of Islay.  As part of the the annual Feis Ile (which we are visiting again for the 6th year now) Ardbeg have decided to rename the 2nd June as an official Ardbeg Day.  Quite whether they've approached the Queen to get the name changed is another matter (she's quite busy at the moment, I believe) and I'm not sure it will count as a national holiday, for those of you having to work. However if you are attending the Feis this year, the line up, which Ardbeg have thrown together looks like a lot of fun indeed -  Olympic-themed japery including phenolic gymnastics, sheep tossing, (one of Joel's favourites) bog snorkelling (another one of Joel's personal favourites) and terrier racing (canine permitting)

Alongside the events is the traditional bottling, which is produced especially for the day.  In the past several years, the Ardbeg releases have been exceptional single casks and very limited release bottlings, resulting in long queues outside the distillery from an early hour.  We've been in those queues - dependent on the weather, it's actually quite fun.  This year will be a little different.  Although the heart of Ardbeg Day will be directly at the distillery, around the world, separate splinter events are happening from everywhere between Vancouver and Vietnam (quite possibly) and for the 99.999% of Ardbeg fans out there, the good news is that the bottling will be available across the globe from a number of Ardbeg Embassies just for the day.

1,100 cases of this special Ardbeg Day bottling will be produced (which in real-person-speak means around 13,000 bottles), so the outturn is relatively on a par with that of some of the previous Ardbeg Committee bottlings and also the Laphroaig Cairdeas bottlings, which were released alongside the Feis Ile.  The bottling is selected and married using several parcels of refill sherry casks, which were previously used for Uigeadail and the ABV will stand at 56.7%

We were lucky enough to spend some time with Dr Bill Lumsden this lunchtime and get a sneaky peak at the whisky, alongside several other expressions of Ardbeg including the 10 year-old and the mighty Alligator (which Bill describes as his 'Sweeney' version of Ardbeg, for reasons too long to explain in this post.)

Ardbeg - Ardbeg Day Bottling - 56.7% - NAS - 70cl.  RRP £60

Nose: Hearty notes of dry ginger, woody spices, hints of golden syrup and fragrant vanilla. With water, the spice notes develop and the sweetness gets more syrupy.  

Palate:  A superb dryness hits first (making one think about rich, dry Oloroso sherry) with more dried ginger, cinnamon, peppered meats, a hint of apple pie and a dusting of dark sugar.  With water, there is also a creaminess, perhaps reminding the palate of some of the Ardbeg bottlings of the last few years -  Uigeadail, Airgh Nam Beist and Alligator.  In fact, the dried fruit, chocolate gingers and orange zest notes are very reminiscent of the snappily titled bottling of last year. 

Finish: Lingering notes of dried fruit, with a touch of the ginger and a little menthol creeping in.

Overall:  Another highly drinkable Ardbeg, which sits firmly in the flavour camp of many of the distilleries favourite bottlings.  It is powerful without water, but doesn't lose its dynamic when a touch is added.  If you liked Alligator, you'll definitely enjoy this.  Question is, would you be prepared to undertake a bog snorkelling session for a bottle?   

I guess we would.  Zip up Harrison. We're going in.

oooh, what could this be? An Ardbeg Playing Card perhaps. Click on it for some fun, fun, fun...

oooh, what could this be? An Ardbeg Playing Card perhaps. Click on it for some fun, fun, fun...