Bought: Whisky Galore, 6th March 2015
Ratings:
94/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
80/100 – Whiskybase (average from 102 member votes)
When I started collecting whisky back in 2013 I was all set to buy Tomintoul’s ‘With a Peaty Tang’ until I had a bad experience with the Ardbeg 10yo. I first tried the Ardbeg back in 2000 and I loved it but it now tasted far more medicinal in flavour than I remembered. I decided that peat should be put on the back burner, and I’d keep my Speyside malts as traditional as possible. I bought the Tomintoul 16yo for the collection and left it at that.
2 years later and I’m a complete convert to the peat experience. The Ardbeg 10yo is one of my favourite drams, which reignited my interest in the ‘Peaty Tang’. Although its score of 80/100 on Whiskybase is quite average, 94/100 in the Whisky Bible classifies it as a “superstar whisky that gives us all a reason to live”. At around £26, it’s good value for the quality that it delivers. Jim Murray, the bible author, says “a bit more than a tang, believe me! Faultlessly clean distillate that revels in its unaccustomed peaty role”.
Here’s Horst Luening with his thoughts on You Tube (July 2016):
