Ardbeg 21 Years Old 1993 Authentic Collection (53.2%, WM Cadenhead, Bourbon HH, 210 Bottles, 2015)

Whisky Review

• Category: Islay single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Ardbeg Distillery
• Bottling: Wm Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection
• ABV: 53.2%
• Cost: £150 from Cadenhead’s

What they say:

Ardbeg Distillery 1993 21yo 53.2%.
210 Bottles.
Bourbon Hogshead.
Bottled July 2015.

Nose:

Prawn toast and natural yoghurt. Soft iodine, birch and dry seashells.

Taste:

Oily and fishy with scallops and crab paté. Quite creamy with some lemongrass and lime.

Finish:

Kedgeree, boiled milk and lingering soft peat smoke.

What I say:

Sample thanks to the MadVatter at Adventures In Whiskyland, from a recent tasting he hosted for the Edinburgh University Water of Life Society.

Colour:

Very light gold (2/20), medium legs and slow-forming medium-sized tears

Nose:

Minty and peaty, mint choc chip ice-cream, vanilla, coconut, fondant icing, salt,  chalk, shellfish, fresh lemon juice, cider vinegar, peach and spearmint

Taste:

Prickly honey-water, lemon, mint, lemongrass, cooking apple sour/unsweetened, cider vinegar, herbal, tobacco leaf, sandalwood, eucalyptus, murray mint, mint & butterscotch sweeties, tar, medicated lozenges like fishermen’s friends.

Finish:

Long, earthy peat smoke, honey sweet, lemon and lime, green and vegetal, fresh lemongrass and mint leaves (a little like a mojito)

Overall:

Minty, subtle peat as it has been tempered by a long maturation in a sadly very underactive cask – there are almost hints in here of freshly sawn wood and sawdust.

Score: 74/100

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