Ardbeg Alligator

[colinhampdenwhite]

Just tasted the new Ardbeg Alligator in London, and my bottles arrived today. I'm a happy lad! Tasting notes are here: http://whiskyevents.wordpress.com/

[IronDawg]

I'm still waiting to receive mine! The tasting notes sound delicious. Honey is not something I would expect from an Ardbeg so looking forward to it.

[IronDawg]

And I still don't have the order! The web site says it is complete and shipped, but I orderd it on June 1st.

[SoMK]

Still waiting on mine that should be delivered to a friend's house in Edinburgh. The payment was accepted nearly one month ago and still nothing... I apparently can'T reach anyone and they don't answer emails Anyone has the same pb ?

[Ganga]

I tried the Alligator this past weekend. I don't get honey notes and I think bbq is the wrong word here (or at least in the US) as bbq is more in reference to the sauce as opposed to the actually cooking/grilling process. From the hazy fog of Saturday, I recall a strong sense of charred oak/campfire, good floral notes (like a meadow), some fruit notes and a just a hint of the diesel and maritime notes. I thought this was a good young whisky and would have no problem enjoying a bottle of it.

[AnnieB]

I had mine delivered to a friend in the UK..after 10 days he informed me that it still had not arrived though I had already received the invoice. I emailed Ardbeg immediately, they responded hours later, and it arrived later that day. Have faith, I think they are just a bit befuddled this time round. It sits as yet unopened....July 1 Celebration!

[SoMK]

Got a phone call from someone at Glenmorangie. Apparently, my bottle got "lost" but they shipped replacement xpress so, all is good

[Peater The Great]

My notes were...

Color - Deep gold/amber
Nose- The smokiness actually simplifies the nose to more peat, sea, and smoke, with a little sweetness in between.
Taste- Starts out silky for the strength with some classic peaty, briny notes, then brings on lots of drying smoke.
Finish- sweet wood smokiness. semi-short. tarry sweet fudge tries to poke its head out but isn't there quite enough to make a big presence.
Comments- Delicious as with most things ardbeg, but seems mostlly like a higher strength 10 yr with a different finish/in different wood. But in all fairness that's pretty much what it is. Very good, but not $90-$100 a bottle good.

I LOVE ardbeg. I really do. And I understand aging whisky takes time and they are dealing with quickly increasing demand with only so much stocks. But they need to take a break from the these no age statement bottlings (uige is a winner, the rest are great but can go) and keep that stuff aging while they put out a solid ten year and bide their time for what we all hope will be some mind blowing older whiskies down the road.

Some of the single cask ardbegs from the 1960s and the early 70s, between 24-32 years old, that I have been lucky enough to drink are HANDS DOWN the greatest whiskies that have ever passed down my gullet... I see no reason they shouldn't strive to achieve such magnificent heights again. But that also means doing at least some of their own maltings again... and that's a whole other long rant.

Anyway, this is my first post... so hi everybody, and all my posts won't be so long.

[whiskgeek]

Nice review, Peter. Uigeadail is my favorite right now, followed closely by Corryvreckan. Alligator doesn't quite live up to the standard, IMO.

Has anyone had both the original Committee release of Alligator, and the current commercial version? Is there much difference?

[Peater The Great]

I'm fairly positive that the committee release of Alligator is the same exact booze as the general release.

[beehappy]

My husband finished his bottle of Alligator that he bought when we were in Scotland last year. I am having a hard time finding a bottle for him as they don't seem to be readily available.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend other Scotch Whiskys that I could get him that would have a similar palette to the Alligator.
It seems that many online stores recommend the Laphroaig triple wood. I was wondering if anyone tried both and how the alligator compares with the triple wood.
(He really likes Laphroaig and Ardbeg whiskys in general).

[opelfruit]

http://www.edencroft.co.uk/servlet/the- ... or./Detail


This is a local Whisky shop near me, I can confirm they have some in stock on the basis that I picked one up on Saturday. I think they have 2 more bottles.

£75 and £7.50 delivery throughout the UK.

If you dont get one, I'll buy them and then you can buy one of me for £150

[beehappy]

I ended up getting a bottle from the Whisky Exchange for 130GBP including shipping, but thanks for the offer .
Actually 75GBP is the cheapest I've seen it online. Unfortunately that particular whisky was never sold within Canada (where we live) so I pretty much have to pay a premium to get it here.

I still would like to know if anyone has an opinion of a comparable whisky that we can try.

[Ganga]

Alligator came from the heavily charred casks at Ardbeg. I doubt you'll get much comparable to it. The best suggestion I would have for you is to get another Ardbeg such as the Uigeadail.