Ardbeg Uigeadail confused?

[sinclair]

Just got JM's WB 2009 and iam a bit confused over the Uigeadail.The 52.3 gets 97.5 which is this one ?,whilst the 54.1 gets 89 .I have checked mine which is an L7 bottling but is 54.2.Can somebody help me out or am i being a bit thick?(Not for the first time may i add)Thanks in anticipation.

[Deactivated Member]

Uigeadail is made in batches and each batch has a different strength. The JM tasting notes and scores correspond to the batch of the stated strength. If your bottle has a strength that is not in the Whisky Bible, it means JM hasn't tasted it. The 97.5 one is sold in Canada.

[sinclair]

Ah i see . Thanks Nick .Will look more closely at the bottles in the future .

[-arsH]

Uigeadail is made in batches and each batch has a different strength. The JM tasting notes and scores correspond to the batch of the stated strength. If your bottle has a strength that is not in the Whisky Bible, it means JM hasn't tasted it. The 97.5 one is sold in Canada.

The Ardbeg Uigeadail has always been bottled at 52,4% ABV. This Canadian bottling must have been a kind of cask sample. Glenmorangie Plc has told that there has not been any special bottling of Uigeadail for Canada.

Read more about it here

[Alucard]

Jim says this is available for some reason only in British Columbia. I live in Victoria BC and was lucky enough to get some and it does taste different than other bottling I have tried, for what reasons I can't explain.

[Spirit of Islay]

I was told by someone on the chat last night that the BC one was a specific Batch , no unusual abv etc , that batch was apparently available in Switzerland as well .

[photojonny]

Jim says this is available for some reason only in British Columbia. I live in Victoria BC and was lucky enough to get some and it does taste different than other bottling I have tried, for what reasons I can't explain.

Where did you get it? How is it different? Any pictures? Ardbeg have released statements adamantly saying there is NO different bottling for Canada/BC.

[mr_fox]

I think this was covered a bit on another topic here on whiskymag.com, which was called "Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2009". Although I've seen mention that BC got a specific batch of Uige, Jim Murray hasn't confirmed which batch/bottling he tasted, and so it's just speculation that the whisky he gave 97.5 is even on the open market. As SOI mentioned, Glenmo has said that Uige is only available at one ABV, and that JM made a mistake.... Again no comment from JM on that one either.

[lohssanami]

Where did you get it? How is it different? Any pictures? Ardbeg have released statements adamantly saying there is NO different bottling for Canada/BC.

As mr_fox said, this was covered in another thread, but I'll answer these questions.

A few other BC forum folks picked it up in BC. There are no identifying marks on the bottle that distinguish this one as different than any other current Uigeadail's on the shelves. All are at 54.2%, and the batch being referred to in these forums is at 54.2%. No pictures are needed as the bottle at 52.3%, in all likelihood, doesn't exist. It could be just as much of a typo as the reference to 54.1% Uigeadail's.

In the other thread, Knolly kindly divulged the bottle code on his 700ml Uigeadail as L7 325 20:36 4ML that he purchased in BC in mid-November. Coincidentally, a friend travelling from Switzerland in late September brought me an Uigeadail with bottle code L7 325 21:31 4ML, which must be from the same batch. I don't know how many bottles come from a batch, but it would seem like it could be in any market that has 700ml bottles. If you live in a market that sells 700ml bottles, check the date codes, and if you find one, buy it and tell us what you think.

If anyone here is from Switzerland, PM me, and I'll tell you the shop it was purchased from as I still have the receipt and the shop sticker on the bottle.

[Anster]

Where did you get it? How is it different? Any pictures? Ardbeg have released statements adamantly saying there is NO different bottling for Canada/BC.

As mr_fox said, this was covered in another thread, but I'll answer these questions.

A few other BC forum folks picked it up in BC. There are no identifying marks on the bottle that distinguish this one as different than any other current Uigeadail's on the shelves. All are at 54.2%, and the batch being referred to in these forums is at 54.2%. No pictures are needed as the bottle at 52.3%, in all likelihood, doesn't exist. It could be just as much of a typo as the reference to 54.1% Uigeadail's.

In the other thread, Knolly kindly divulged the bottle code on his 700ml Uigeadail as L7 325 20:36 4ML that he purchased in BC in mid-November. Coincidentally, a friend travelling from Switzerland in late September brought me an Uigeadail with bottle code L7 325 21:31 4ML, which must be from the same batch. I don't know how many bottles come from a batch, but it would seem like it could be in any market that has 700ml bottles. If you live in a market that sells 700ml bottles, check the date codes, and if you find one, buy it and tell us what you think.

If anyone here is from Switzerland, PM me, and I'll tell you the shop it was purchased from as I still have the receipt and the shop sticker on the bottle.

I bought a bottle in Dec 08 stamped 'L7 257 08:57 4ML' which the very kind manager of a Byres Rd. whisky shop retrieved from the Prestwick branch for me. It was fantastic, a fully loaded dram yet it had plenty of subtle stuff going on to tease you into a swift retaste. If it wasn't JM's Uigeadail (if indeed there was ever a 'BC Ltd Ed.' or whatever) then I'll not be loosing sleep over it, what I drank was superb. I'll be buying another one to try alongside the Supernova (assuming I can get a bottle of that before Dec 09)!

[leehuan]

The Ardbeg Uigeadail is selling faster because Jim Murray is promoting over CBC radio while touring his tasting sessions on Vancouver Island (Nanaimo, Victoria, and Ducan). Indeed the bottling is 54.2% with code such as L7 325.... there is no such thing 52.3% bottling in BC.

You can find the inventory and general description here:
http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/products/202028

I am picking up a few bottles and keeping the receipt. Since Jim so warm heartly wager the future price of this bottling in BC, and consistenly promote it publicly. There is a chance it will worth more in the near future. If not, it is still a great dram (and an Ardbeg!).

The price is reasonable; and they will be gone after the Victoria Whisky Festival this weekend. BTW, they are in a soft box and not in hard boxes.

[talisker10]

It doesn't seem very ethical for Murray to be selling a book that purports to be fairly ranking SMW, and then on the other hand actively working for (or appearing to work for) a single distillery. If I were a competitor I would not be very pleased about that.

[psr-740]

I am not a big fan of JM. Some of his ratings are sometimes strange at best...
I think the all Ardbeg Uigeadai will be very enjoyable for you. don't worry about his rating.

[leehuan]

okay.. the BC inventory is officially empty. All bottles are sold.
Jim apologized for error on the 2009 whisky bible. All Arbeg Uigeadail are at 54.2%.

[RyanFantastic]

okay.. the BC inventory is officially empty. All bottles are sold.
Jim apologized for error on the 2009 whisky bible. All Arbeg Uigeadail are at 54.2%.

Really? There were 6 available at my local BCL last night, and around 60 still available across the province, IIRC. I'd be surprised if BCLs sold out that quickly, perhaps it was just pulled from the website?

Anyone want to speculate on why there was such a run on this all of a sudden? VWF perhaps? I mean we've known about the "L7 325" since November so I'm a bit confused...

[RyanFantastic]

okay.. the BC inventory is officially empty. All bottles are sold.
Jim apologized for error on the 2009 whisky bible. All Arbeg Uigeadail are at 54.2%.

Really? There were 6 available at my local BCL last night, and around 60 still available across the province, IIRC. I'd be surprised if BCLs sold out that quickly, perhaps it was just pulled from the website?

OK, so it's back on the website with 42 bottles in BC. The last time I checked the stock online was Sunday, January 18th and there were 152 bottles showing . This has been quite the run!

[leehuan]

okay.. the BC inventory is officially empty. All bottles are sold.
Jim apologized for error on the 2009 whisky bible. All Arbeg Uigeadail are at 54.2%.

Really? There were 6 available at my local BCL last night, and around 60 still available across the province, IIRC. I'd be surprised if BCLs sold out that quickly, perhaps it was just pulled from the website?

OK, so it's back on the website with 42 bottles in BC. The last time I checked the stock online was Sunday, January 18th and there were 152 bottles showing . This has been quite the run!

Cool... I called my local BC Signature store and all the bottles in Victoria were reserved. They pull the inventory off the website and now they are back on. I think some people are acquiring them, betting the future value.

http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/products/202028

[bianca007]

nice thread, guys!
i live in victoria too, and i also was very lucky to get an Ardberg Uigedail!
but you are right, i think it tastes a little bit different! but i still like it!
can somebody explain me why??

[leehuan]

nice thread, guys!
i live in victoria too, and i also was very lucky to get an Ardberg Uigedail!
but you are right, i think it tastes a little bit different! but i still like it!
can somebody explain me why??

yeah.. some the BC's batch and few 200 bottles in Sweden are the kings and queens of the all the Uigeadail. It could be the casks for bottling simply are better tasting and ended up in BC. There's no way to confirm that now.

[Anster]

[/quote] yeah.. some the BC's batch and few 200 bottles in Sweden are the kings and queens of the all the Uigeadail. It could be the casks for bottling simply are better tasting and ended up in BC. There's no way to confirm that now.[/quote]

The whole BC thing has been explained away: there was no special bottlling for BC; there were typos and a lot of confusion but no special bottling. The L7 bottling is the L7 bottling. I've had couple and they were great, just as the L8 release is also great, but if you want to argue the toss over which release tastes better to you then grand, that's all good. But the BC thing is dead in the water.

[Deactivated Member]

I'd put it down to the terroir of tasting.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

yeah Mr T.

I´d say that goes to show how anticipation can influence perceptions.

Greetings
kallaskander

[leehuan]

partly anticipation versus expectation.. however, I think I have gathered enough bottling from BC, Taiwan and one from UK to say that there is a difference. I also have to say that they all tasted very good to me. Difference as you may focused or analyzed to the single cask level of details, they are great dram leaving you some things to think about.