Whisky

Ardbeg 8 Year Old For Discussion is bottled at 50.8% and was first launched in 2004 as part of the "For Discussion" series.

COLOR
Pale Straw

NOSE
Intense with a burst of charcoal, creosote, tar and treacle toffee, with curious hints
of something vegetal, like fennel, celery and green peppers. Once these subside,
there are hints of milk chocolate, aniseed and wood smoke.

With a little drop of water, some more herbal notes appear, like fennel, coriander
and lavender, along with some characteristic Ardbeg aromatic wood smoke and a
hint of fresh, salty sea spray.

TASTE
A distinctively peppery mouthfeel eases into a complex symphony of flavours;
treacle toffee, aniseed, salted caramel chocolate, eucalyptus, menthol and briar
wood, to name but a few.
The ?tingling?, peppery sensation on the palate continues, with the sweeter flavours
giving way to more savoury notes like charcoal, smoked bacon, burnt toast and tar.

FINISH:
The aftertaste is long and lingering, with a suggestion of peppermint and clove.

Inspired by the spirit of intensity and pride that shines through a Lagavulin history more than 200 years long, our Malt Master explores the famed symbols of the ancient Mesoamerican art of tattoo, rich in story and significance. The whisky, finished in Don Julio An?ejo tequila casks, pulses with herbal flavors ancient and modern, engraving an indelible story.

Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Bright pale sunlight. Good beading and legs.
Nose: The immediate aromas are slightly more medicinal than smoky, showing hints of carbolic soap and soothing rub that soon mingle with aromatic wood smoke from a driftwood bonfire on the beach. As the intense, herbal smoke takes over, a savoury note drifts through it, suggesting barbecued pork. A drop of water reduces the intensity yet adds more maritime and darkly fruity notes, making the smokiness yet more aromatic.
Body: Medium.
Palate: At natural strength, the robust texture is creamy-smooth and mouth-filling, while with its ever-richer swirling flavors the taste is sweet at first and citrus-like, adds a good sprinkling of salt, then reveals notes of juicy plum in an increasingly smoky and lip-tingling finale. With a dash of water, it?s a little sweeter and smokier still.
Finish: Long, with a salty tang and finishing very smoky, with just a hint of that light meatiness in a smoky aftertaste that is both lingering and mouth-cooling. It is drying, with a lovely warm-heartedness.
ABV: 56.4%

Made entirely from barley grown at Rockside farm where the distillery resides, this expression offers a more delicate and complex peat smoke, with fragrant and zesty citrus tones and malt-forward flavour. The aroma pulls you in with a crisp and fresh sea salt note, with banana bread and pear drop fruityness, tinged with sweet smoke. The palate is weighty, bringing the vanilla and caramel woody notes through, becoming buttery and honeyed, surrounded by grilled citrus smoke to the end.

SAMAROLI ISLAY
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
BOTTLED IN SCOTLAND IN 2023

Our eye - or better our nose - dwells on this youngster, allowing us to bottle yet another iteration of our philosophy of Islay, the queen of Scotland. We stand before a young, arrogant and daring Caol Ila. Despite its youth, the mastery conferred by wood presents us with a slightly peaty note. In addition, we sense shy hints of yeast, butter and smoked meats reminiscent of our hearth after last night?s fire is spent. And now almond, hazelnut and candied fruit. 

The saline plane surprises us in terms of equilibrium and harmony. Suggestions of herring and anchovy, a classic marina scent with flashes of the mineral. Those caper bushes descending towards the Sicilian sea are now evoked. To the right the Pillars of Heracles. To the left, the mysterious and intriguing East. There is a narrow border between the ocean and the sky which is lighter and therefore easy to identify. Some may say that Brittany is where we can best learn to distinguish this.

A.W.B. 

COMPOSITION: 3 casks of Caol Ila 2013 - Hogshead - Refill Bourbon
BOTTLES PRODUCED: 1104
ABV: 45%

Caol Ila 10yo First Fill Amontillado Sherry Hogshead Cask Finish #306695 

Nose
Ashy and fruity ? smoked pears, quince jelly, strawberry, greengage and liquorice root.

Taste
Earthy, sweet smoke, paired with salted liquorice, physalis and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Finish
Smoked pears, lemon rind and freshly baked dough.

Matured for a total of 13 years, the final 2 years of this Caol Ila were spent finishing in ex-Sassicaia red wine casks, a 'super Tuscan' red wine from Italy. The cask shows its character immediately with blackcurrant, dried fig and black forest fruitiness wrapping around Caol Ila's meaty peat smoke. The smoke and fruit mingle together, combining to create a distinctive fruity, peaty concoction that has made this on-going release from G&M so popular.

The much-anticipated release of Kilchoman's 'Casado' has arrived just in time for Christmas, offering Kilchoman's rich, peaty whisky that was given an additional 2 years marrying in specially made Portuguese ex-red wine vats known as Casado's. 

TASTING NOTES:

Nose: Opens with an intense note of a sea-side bonfire on an Islay beach, with summer fruit, plum and cherries surrounded by peat smoke.

Taste: There is pronounced pepper & spice, dry and salty with peat and lemon, with apricot compote following.

Finish: A sticky, jammy flavour builds alongside a cooked fruit character, distinctly Kilchoman to its beautifully smokey finish.

This new expression from Kilchoman has seen their spirit fully matured in ex-Cognac casks from Tonellerie Bossuet (France). 

These casks impart a herbaceous, sweet and spicy character that balances against the robust peat smoke character of the whisky. The palate carries a toasted oakyness, with lush fruit laced with crystalised ginger warmth.

 A tang of citrus oil lifts through the smoke and sweet wood in the finish.

The Kilchoman 100% Islay 12th Edition from Kilchoman distillery was matured in 29 bourbon barrels and 6 oloroso sherry butts for a minimum of 8 years. 

Once harvested, the barley was hand malted on the Kilchoman malt floor, and gently turned twice daily by the maltmen as it germinated. The green malt was then smoked using peat cut from the Cnoc Dubh peat banks, the thick peat smoke permeating each barley grain, creating the distinct smoky Kilchoman character, landing around 20PPM. 

Once distilled in Kilchoman's unique pot stills, the new make spirit was filled into casks and stowed in dunnage warehouses at the distillery.

A marriage of whisky matured in sweet sauternes wine casks, together with classic Ardbeg aged in ex-bourbon casks.

Colour - Amber

Aroma - Very distinctively oily, with touches of extra virgin olive oil, sweet briar wood, aromatic herbs (coriander & sage) and a suggestion of smoked lemon peel. A splash of water releases more oiliness, like linseed oil, a gentle waxiness, and a burst of perfumed, aromatic carbolic soap, and finally, a whiff of cr?me brulee.

Taste - A soft, oily, mouthcoating texture leads into a rich, sweet, smoky palate, with hints of oak moss, treacle, aniseed lozenges and a lovely, sweet, woody/balsamic flavour. This is then followed by smoked apricots and eucalyptus oil.

Finish - Finally comes a lingering, sweet/smoky aftertaste, with a touch of cumin, cardamon and the merest hint of coconut.

In the universe of Planet Ardbeg, the legendary purifier on the still
responsible for Ardbeg's exalted balance has disappeared! Mysterious forces are rising at the Distillery.

The balance of Ardbeg has been disrupted and an ominous dram
Ardbeg Heavy Vapours is the consequence?

With SMOKY surges of bittersweetness and CLOUDS of dark chocolate and
eucalyptus, ARDBEG HEAVY VAPOURS is an ominous dram of dramatic,
AROMATIC pungency.

This Planet Ardbeg Day, new and existing committee members are invited to step
into Planet Ardbeg and join Agent 46 to solve the mystery of the missing purifier,
helping to restore the balance before it?s too late.

Elements of Islay Sherry Cask is part of the new core range trilogy alongside Cask Edit and Bourbon Cask. It is matured in first fill and refill Sherry butts and hogsheads and is bottled at a higher strength of 54.5% to fully showcase the whisky’s natural personality.

Islay single malt from north and south coast distilleries bring flavours of dried fruits and dark chocolate, while a distillery on the north coast contributes notes of lemon oil and Arbroath smokie.


Tasting Notes
Nose: The lingering scent of tobacco remains in an empty sandalwood cigar box. Arbroath smokie sits alongside aromatic notes of lemon oil, ginger root and a hint of menthol.

Palate: Rich and unctuous. Dark-chocolate-dipped candied orange slices and chunks of crystalised stem ginger. Muscovado sugar syrup provides a sticky, dark drizzle over date-studded ginger cake. Sweet smoke and dried autumn fruits sit in the background.

Finish:
Treacle toffee and smoky black tea, sweetened by dark brown sugar. A long, sweet, rich and spicy finish.

About the Producer

Elements of Islay is a range of iconic, small-batch, independently bottled whiskies. The range celebrates the diversity of whiskies that make Islay special, with a focus on the medicinal, smoky, elemental character of the island's whiskies. To maintain their personality, they are not chill-filtered and no colouring is added, allowing us to present the best whiskies that Islay has to offer in an authentic yet contemporary style.

Ardbeg BizarreBQ Limited Edition is the Distillery's first ever barbecue-inspired whisky.

From the eccentric and experimental mind of Dr Bill Lumsden, Director of Whisky
Creation, and in collaboration with grilling guru, Christian Stevenson (AKA DJ BBQ), this single malt was made to pack a meaty, peaty punch.

The same way it is with grilling, there's one vital element in creating the first BBQ-inspired malt fire. Toasting a selection of three casks, double charred oak casks, Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and BBQ casks, this combined recipe comes together to bring a sweet, tangy, smoky flavour perfect for BBQ!

Aroma - Puffs of charcoal and soot mingle with smoky wood and aromatic herbs and spices. Treacle toffee, hickory smoked ham and cinnamon-dusted espresso rise up.

A splash of water releases distinctively sharp citrus aromas, along with herbal notes such as fennel and aniseed. Grilled artichokes and a suggestion of seared meat sizzles the senses. The undeniable smell of bonfire and BBQ embers lingers in the background.

Taste - The mouthfeel is alive with spice, like BBQ ribs smothered in chilli. A myriad of deep, warming smoke follows close behind in flame-grilled steak, chilli oil, cured leather and clove. Ginger, aniseed and tar crackle on the palate with an aromatic woodsmoke edge.

Finish - The massive, hot aftertaste lingers on and on, with more grilled artichoke, black olives and a sooty note that slowly simmers away.

Named after a famously dark and peaty loch overlooked by the distillery, Loch Gorm is a sherry cask single malt matured exclusively in oloroso casks, extracting the rich spicy character of the European oak as it ages in Kilchoman's Islay warehouses. 

This is the 2023 release.

This 15-year-old single malt, spends its final three years in oloroso sherry casks (prior to 12 in bourbon) and is elegantly balanced between the sherry influence and the distillery's fruit and peat characteristics. Breathe in delicious dark chocolate, sun-dried fruits and a tell-tale wisp of Islay smoke. On the palate sip wonderful cedar wood and a rich treacle toffee and savour the robust and complex finish with a hint of sherry tannin.