Ardbeg 17yr, Islay

For my first review, I started off strong. Maybe too strong, but here’s the reasoning: if Amy puts the kibosh on this whisky adventure, I will already have tasted some serious whisky. The downside, I’ll probably get better at noticing many of the intricacies, but I probably won’t return to some of these. So, anyway, I decided to hit Islay first, knowing that these whiskies are often the most extreme. There’s lots of talk about Islay whiskies and tasting the sea. Prior to this one, I thought this was rubbish (as they’d say here). (Although, come to think of it, I may have only had one Islay whisky prior this one and that was the ultra bold Lagavulin. Maybe I had an Islay with Matt, but if so, I don’t remember tasting the sea. Anyway, let’s just say that Lagavulin is smoky enough that when you leave your empty glass on the table and step out of the room, you can still smell it in the hall.) So, here’s my first whisky, the Ardbeg 17yr (from the same part of Islay as Lagavulin I believe; I should have brought Matt’s book with me and will bring it back in March… I guess I could look crap up on the internet, but that’s not what the NSF is paying me to do here and I don’t want to taint my own reviews with others).


Ardbeg 17yr
Islay
40% abv

Color: a vanishing yet burnt gold

Nose: first salty, second molasses, later sweet but dangerous. (After a few sips, the aroma is consistently like candy - sweet, salty, and not too strong.)

Palate: gentle, warm, and reasonably smoky

Finish: at first, it is immediately intense, mild burning on the lips, and gets high in your nostrils clearing them, but then it’s gone, leaving a tingling throughout and a sweet aftertaste where you want some more. Unfortunately, it’s expensive and you’ll have to be satisfied with your 35ml.

Overall: Maybe I was just psyched up for number one, but this whisky was fun and intriguing; I'd say even fantastic. I couldn’t taste the sea exactly, but I could certainly smell it. It is certainly worth ordering at a bar. If you like whisky and want to try a fun one, don’t look at the prices and order this one. If you buy a bottle for your home, it’s probably used for serious celebrations or impressing guests. I don’t think it’s an everyday bottle (although I also don’t condone drinking whisky every day, both physically and fiscally).


I want to inform you that my favorite part of drinking whisky is smelling it. So there was certainly a time in my life when I thought the goal was to consume more of the whisky than your “mates.” After a few unfortunate episodes and the wise guidance of a certain woman, I realized this was stupid. Now I like to drink it very slowly, most of the time spent smelling it. If you are like me, you’ll agree that the whisky smells very different after you have had a few sips; my understanding is that your nose is now used to the alcohol. Anyway, I plan to comment on both sets of “Nose” as I would prefer to drink a wonderful smelling whisky that isn’t perfect to drink, than a perfect drinking whisky that smells weird.

So that’s my first review!