Ardbeg 16yo 'Airigh Nam Beist'

Related whiskies : Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990 16 Years Old

by **kallaskander** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:27 am

Hi there,

a German internet seller told a customer that it is made from stock distilled in the 1990ies and that that stock will last for about 3 years. But they could always release new batches with different stocks as they did with the Uigedail.

Greetings
kallaskander

by **Aidan** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:24 pm

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but is there any sherry casks used in this?

by **Bullie** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:28 am

Aidan wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but is there any sherry casks used in this?

Nope.

by **Di Blasi** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:26 am

Wow, good stuff! I hope to get my hands on it real soon. Can't wait to taste it.

by **bamber** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:15 am

Anyone know if Oddbins will carry it ?

by **Leither** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:45 am

Yes, I checked Oddbins yesterday (at a couple of their Edinburgh stores) and they will be getting it in shortly - same price as RMW - but they admitted to being a bit slow these days at getting new releases in store.

In the meantime they have discounted both the Uigeadail and the Ten, both at £5 off. I stocked up on the Very Young earlier this summer when they discounted it to circa £20, top bargain :wink:

Also £4 off Clynelish 14OB, so I purchased a few pre-xmas bargains before their festive stocks arrive.

by **bamber** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:56 pm

Great. I'll hang on and just pick one up from up the road then.

by **Bullie** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:39 pm

In Sweden we have to wait until 4:th of december, when 1500 bottles will be released at our dear monopoly owned by the government...

The pricing is fair though:
599SEK (£42,50)

by **Bullie** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:44 pm

kallaskander wrote:a German internet seller told a customer that it is made from stock distilled in the 1990ies and that that stock will last for about 3 years. But they could always release new batches with different stocks as they did with the Uigedail.

That is what they will do. Next year batch no2 of the 1990 will be released... Then 17 yo of course..

by **kildalton** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:10 pm

Anyone knows if it will be avalaible from the distillery?

by **Ginge** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:18 pm

Since I was kindly pointed in this direction from my post in the tasting forum... (Thanks Bamber!):)

Does anyone know if it is a limited release (as it says on the box)? People have mentioned a second batch release next year... but that doesn't sound particularly limited to me!

by **Deactivated Member** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 8:34 pm

Nick Brown wrote:Unfortunately, I can see below the peat and it isn't always pretty. Its as though some distillers think they can use a wide cut and substandard barrels, and nobody will notice because of the peat."

Hello,

I was curious as per your statement : Would you kindly care to please share which of the smoky whiskies are ones that you have managed to see past the smokiness, and found the whisky substandard due to be it barrels or whatever please?

This interests me, as there are a limited number of smoky whiskies around. You did, thankfully, give examples of some good smoky whiskies.

by **hpulley** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 11:42 pm

I can see below it too and I like some but not others. It all comes down to personal taste. I have not met many Ardbegs which I haven't loved but Lagavulin and Caol Ila are more hit and miss for me. I enjoy Broras quite a bit but the ones without much peat can be middle of the road. The recent experiments in peating everything under the sun, islay cask finishes, etc. have been at best fads, IMO.

Harry

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:15 pm

I would prefer to focus on whiskies that I like rather than whiskies that I don't, but the question has been asked. Amongst the whiskies where I find the peat masks something rather lacklustre are: Jura Superstition; Bruichladdich 3D; some young Ardbegs; some recent Laphroaig 10s; older Laphroaig 15; peated Benriach; some Caol Ila bottlings; younger Port Ellen. These are just the ones I remember. I should hasten to add that I have also had some excellent Port Ellens, Caol Ilas, Ardbegs and Laphroaigs. There is a lot of peated stuff out there - especially if you have access to independent bottlers. My contention was simply that peat alone does not make a great whisky - the great peated ones have more under the bonnet. My favourite peaty whiskies seem to be from Ardmore and Bowmore. I recently went on a parallel tasting of Brora and only one of the five drams was peaty. The others were, IMO, much nicer with lovely chocolate and coffee notes and a good dose of orangey fruit too.

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:50 pm

Thank you Nick for your honest and prompt answer. I was truly interested int his topic, and not trying to pick a disagreement here.

The love of smoky flavours is much a matter of taste. On the other hand, there is a historical link to producing smoky whiskies. What is interesting is that due to the rising popularity of such, more and more whisky distilleries experiment (again, and this time on purpose) with producing smoky varieties, to our delight or horror.

Certainly barrels play a part most important in how the whisky comes out. I've had a Backadder Bowmore which tasted as if someone had trashed several hundred cigarette stumps along with their ashes to the whisky, this was NOT a treat in my opinion! It was just ash, ash, and bitter, burnt flavour.

With Caol Ila, I havent found much problems, mainly some whiskies have been smokier than others, while others are more briny, but all have been good money vs. quality.

One indie-bottled Ardbeg has left me to wondering what they have done to the whisky to so effectively remove all traces of Ardbeg from it. No smoke, no flavour, flatness.

by **Frodo** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:34 pm

M.R.J. wrote:One indie-bottled Ardbeg has left me to wondering what they have done to the whisky to so effectively remove all traces of Ardbeg from it. No smoke, no flavour, flatness.

Was that the CC 1995 bottling?

by **bamber** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:40 pm

Frodo wrote:
M.R.J. wrote:One indie-bottled Ardbeg has left me to wondering what they have done to the whisky to so effectively remove all traces of Ardbeg from it. No smoke, no flavour, flatness.

Was that the CC 1995 bottling?

Is that a bad one ? I was thinking of buying it !

by **bamber** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:49 pm

Cheers for that - sounds ok.

Edit: spent matches + sherry might equal trouble.

by **Frodo** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:59 am

The one I'm thinking of was on the light side of medium peaty. Not what I was expecting from an Ardbeg. Harry has had a bottle or two so I'll defer to his tasting notes. I only tried it once, and I thought it was a big rip-off at $75 cdn.

by **hpulley** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:48 am

It was the '94 CC 10yo that I had, not the '95 and I hear they are completely different animals. I enjoyed the '94 as an easy drinking Ardbeg but it wasn't that memorable. Did I have one bottle or two? Hmm, I can't quite recall now... which probably says something

For the same price I do prefer the OB 10yo but it was nice to try the '94 as something different.

Harry

by **bamber** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:14 pm

Frodo wrote:The one I'm thinking of was on the light side of medium peaty. Not what I was expecting from an Ardbeg. Harry has had a bottle or two so I'll defer to his tasting notes. I only tried it once, and I thought it was a big rip-off at $75 cdn.

It's £20 here. Pretty good for a change I thought.

by **Deactivated Member** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 9:03 am

The Ardbeg that left me puzzled as to what kind of whisky it was or how in the world it was matured was a younger (10yo) bottling of Gordon & MacPhails, but unfortunately I cannot recall precisely the years. It was bottled at 43%, thats certain.

The whisky was 'flat', almost devoid of smoke or peat, wood was already present in the taste but not in any positive way, and the overall flavour was dominated by a dull cereal-like taste. In a blind tasting I don't think I would have recognized it to be an Islay whisky, and certainly not Ardbeg.

This acquaintance has made me steer clear of Gordon & MacPhail's Ardbegs, and not to buy any bottling of theirs preferably without tasting it first. (I once also had a Rosebank from them that was truly awful).

by **Simplicio** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:53 pm

bamber wrote:Cheers for that - sounds ok.

Edit: spent matches + sherry might equal trouble.

That's exactly it ... The CC '95 has a kind of burnt ash, spent matches peatyness, which, combined with a kind of perfumy mustiness that reminds me of the problems Bowmore is said to have had, makes for an unpleasant whisky.

The other Ardbeg characteristics are there, but they are muted by comparison.

by **hpulley** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:42 pm

There is ash in the '94 40% 10yo CC as well but no burnt matches that I recall.

Harry

by **arnehd** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:19 pm

Does anyone know how limited the Ardbeg 16 Yo really is ?
I got two bottles at the store today (70 something Euros, per bottle, so it is a little bit more expensive than at royalmilewhiskies ) , but on german ebay the prices are soaring like crazy , the price of one bottle there pays for two of mine ( so maybe I just won't drink the second one yet) . But anyway I'm really looking forward to tasting this expression , hope it is as good as it sounds.

by **Wave** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:40 pm

I'm sure once the Ardbeg fanatics get their 1st bottlings it won't seem like it's so limited as like when the Uigeadail first came out.

Cheers!

by **hpulley** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:47 pm

Ordered a case before I tried it. Now I've tried it and I really hope the case comes in! Lovely stuff, great Ardbeg. Wish I still had some 17yo to compare, not that it would be much of a comparison.

Harry

by **slojo** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:48 pm

hpulley wrote:Ordered a case before I tried it. Now I've tried it and I really hope the case comes in! Lovely stuff, great Ardbeg. Wish I still had some 17yo to compare, not that it would be much of a comparison.

Harry

In what way would it not be much of a comparison?

by **hpulley** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:53 pm

43% chill filtered Ardbeg 17yo compared to 46% unchillfiltered Beist wouldn't be that fair as the chill filtering really takes a lot out of a whisky, IMO. I love the 17yo and wish I had a bottle for a direct comparison but ANB is certainly much peatier from memory. Thus, like the comparison to Uigeadail which was not useful due to the sherry in Oogie, the low peating in A17 would make it a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

Harry

by **Whiskana** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 7:21 pm

Just received my ANB today and compared it to my 17yo Ardbeg.

ANB is smokier but too weak. Smoky vanilla with some pepper. Long finish. Adding water to it makes it unbearable to drink. Awful. I have to give it some time and taste it tomorrow after dinner or something. Now we did not hit it off...

17yo is sweeter and oily, though I must admit that my bottle has been opened fo some time (years) now so it has probably affected it. It is more to my liking now all the same. More sophisticated, if you can say so.

by **Bulkington** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:20 pm

So is this even going to be released in the states? Is it THAT limited? I live in NYC and haven't seen it anywhere.

by **Admiral** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:55 am

Tried this expression a week or two ago. Not bad, although it struggled in the line up that also included Lord of the Isles and Uigedail.

Cheers,
AD

by **Nidaros** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:27 pm

Here in Norway, the Uigeadail and the Airigh nam Beist cost just about the same.

Which one is better?

by **hpulley** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:16 pm

They're very different though I'd have to say I prefer Uigeadail of the two. Beist is 1990 while Oogie is some '70s sherried Ardbeg plus some ~10yo current stuff. Not a great comparison, really. It is better to compare Beist to TEN and '77 which are more in a similar style.

Harry

by **Nidaros** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:26 pm

Thank you for the advice.

I really enjoy the 10 year old Ardbeg, and I really want to try out the other expressions, however it is a bit confusing to me what the differences and similarities are, given that they give them cryptic names like Lord of the Isles, Uigeadail and now the Beist...

Related whiskies : Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 1990 16 Years Old