Ardbeg 1977

[Deactivated Member]

Frankly I am amazed that there's not more fuss about this fab whisky - which was in it's release year also voted as whisky of the year by Whisky Magazine readers. Again, a product that seems to have disappeared from the market more or less by now.

whiskyauction has one for sale, and the price strikes me as very low. Hmm, is it such a common bottling?

[kildalton]

Well it's not so common now, anyway I think there were a good number around.
I bought one last week for 114 euros and it was a good price.
Now here(Italy)it's commonly sold at around 180 euro.

[corbuso]

The Ardbeg 1977 can be still quite easily found for about 130 €/£90 outside UK.

Rgds

Corbuso

[MacChristensen]

Frankly I am amazed that there's not more fuss about this fab whisky - which was in it's release year also voted as whisky of the year by Whisky Magazine readers. Again, a product that seems to have disappeared from the market more or less by now.

whiskyauction has one for sale, and the price strikes me as very low. Hmm, is it such a common bottling?

Hi

take a look at the results for the last auction @ whiskyauction.com - a 1977 Ardbeg went for no less than EUR 305 ,- - if that isn´t OVERPRICED then I don´t know what is......

Slainte
Jesper

[Deactivated Member]

Corbuso: Really? I haven't seen it on most fo the internet merchant's list at all any more. Personally I think its a great vintage, really powerful Ardbeg in its own right. I originally got it in UK for £69, so 130 euros isn't that bad actually.

[Aidan]

I bought 3 of these. The first one I bought was on Islay, and I paid £69. The others I paid up to about €150, when you include packaging.

[Dubois]

Lately there was in some shop over here a few bottles on sale for about 130 Euro.

[Whiskana]

I have bought three of these in the last 18 months or so, and always paid 105-115€. 9 months ago bought one from Ardbeg's shop at 70£. If I did not have one unopened bottle and one "under inspection", I would probably seek to buy one at 120-140€, if desperate enough...

Good stuff! Better than OB 30yo or LotI in my mind.

[kildalton]

Ehm just a question...Whiskana spoke about the 30 y.o OB I've one, but unopened, how it tastes?

[Deactivated Member]

Ehm just a question...Whiskana spoke about the 30 y.o OB I've one, but unopened, how it tastes?

It tastes just like chicken!

[Whiskana]

Ehm just a question...Whiskana spoke about the 30 y.o OB I've one, but unopened, how it tastes?

Soft and mellow...

It is very good, of course, but I usually like it a bit stronger and smokier.

[Spirit of Islay]

Ehm just a question...Whiskana spoke about the 30 y.o OB I've one, but unopened, how it tastes?

1.) Remove Foil Capsule.
2.) Pull out Cork.
3.) Pour contents into a glass (the choice is yours)
4.) Hold glass under nose and smell contents .
5.) Place glass against lips and put a bit of contents into your mouth .
6.) Swirl contents around mouth , run over tongue , this can be done for a varying amount of time .
7.) Swallow contents !


This may be a new concept on this bit of the forum but it generally works for tasting a whisky . If you have any problems with this i'm afraid i will be unable to help you as i'll be on Islay for the next week doing with Islay malts what they were produced for .... i.e. drinking them !!!!
Hope this helps !
Gordon

[SpiritofShetland]

Ehm just a question...Whiskana spoke about the 30 y.o OB I've one, but unopened, how it tastes?

Send the bottle to me and I'll tell you

[Deactivated Member]

Dear All,

Couldn't resist putting this image here - it looks pretty lovely I think!

[Whiskana]

[Aidan]

How does the 1975 compare to the 1977?

[Deactivated Member]

I found the 1975 to be better than the 1977 and the 1974 to be better still.

MT

[Aidan]

Thanks, Keith. And does anyone know how they compare in terms of the quantity that was made?

[corbuso]

Dear All,

Couldn't resist putting this image here - it looks pretty lovely I think!

And where is the 1978?

[Deactivated Member]

AIdan,
I have never heard any actual numbers, but for certain the 1977 was available in the shops for some years.
There were three different 1975's that I know of, bottled 1998, 1999 & 2000.
This means three years worth of bottles.

My first record of the 1977 was on Ebay in 2004, but I feel it was available in the shops long before this, which means much more than three years worth of bottles.
Remember, unlike the 1975, the 1977 was never issued with a bottling date!

As for the 1974, there are nothing like as many around and all that I have seen have been G&M "CC", apart from the Provenance which is the only OB 1974 that I can immediately think of.

Regards,
MT

[Spirit of Islay]

Hi MT ,
I seem to remember on LFW it was quoted as 2400 bottles for the 1977 , i think it was one of the most under-rated Ardbegs as it seemed to be around for ages .
Regarding the 1974's , there were 3 Provenance releases , Europe bottled 18/11/97 55.6% , USA bottled 9/4/98 54.7% and a one which went worldwide i think bottled 21/9/2000 55% . There have been several single cask 74's , i have the UK one from 2002 (Cask 3475 ) and i think there have been at least 6 others in Europe .
There have been several C.C. 1974's , i've only had the 20 and 29yo , both were extremely good .
I must say that i prefer Ardbeg from either 72 , 73 or 74 as it seems to have more of that Ardbeg-dine and Cocoa than later ones but the 77 is a lovely peat and smoke beast .
Slainte
Gordon

A photo from a few years ago , slightly more O.b.'s have been added !

[Deactivated Member]

Funny that Spirit of Islay happened to say that the 1977 Ardbeg is one of the most underrated Ardbegs - the whisky magazine's tasters thought it was absolutely fantastic!

http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/ardbeg/whisky791.html

It is a powerful, peaty beast - quite youthful in its character I think, but captures the real Ardbeg-essence.

[Deactivated Member]

Corbuso - nope, haven't got the 1978

I did leave out from the pic the 10yo and the Lord of the Isles..!

[Deactivated Member]

2400 bottles of 1977?
Somehow I can't believe that, otherwise it would have been numbered and would have run out within a few months of being introduced.

It has been available since at least 2004 in almost every whisky shop in Europe and was still on the shelves up to late 2005.

Anyway, I may be wrong about this and if so, then sorry for doubting you.
MT

[Spirit of Islay]

MRJ - under-rated in the way people never raved about it the way they did about other releases , a lot of people didn't like the peatiness of it after the 1975 and 1978 .

MT - why would it have been numbered at 2400 bottles ?
Is the Young Uigeadail numbered at under 1400 bottles ?
Was the ACR numbered at 3000 bottles ?
Was the Very Young Committee at 4002 ?
Was the 21yo at 2500 ?
Was the 1990 at 1800 ?

Ardbeg is a buzz whisky (in the speculator sense) at the moment but even going back just a couple of years it wasn't always so .
The ACR was around the distillery shop for a while , as was the Very Young Committee and the 21yo , nobody seemed interested in these ( i picked up 8 VYA's over a few visits and several ACR's ). The speculators only seem interested in the 1977 now it is all but gone (if there are still bottles available in Europe ).
I'll not hold it against you for doubting me , nobodys perfect ! LOL!

Slainte
Gordon

[Aidan]

I think I'll open one of my '77s next week. It's a very tempting whisky.

[Di Blasi]

I remember not appreciating it when I first tasted it a few years back. It didn't have that big smokey powerful punch I so enjoyed in the Ten. So I left it for a bit, a number of months, and came back to find I really liked it. Very milk chocolatey! But I still didn't get the smokey powerful punch I expected. But yes, it is very nice, definitely a nice dessert whisky.

[Deactivated Member]

Hello,

The 1977's I have I bought for £ 69 when I visited the Ardbeg distillery quite in 2001 fall. The 1977 release was the newest thing then, and right after it came the Lord of the Isles.

Maybe it has been 2400 bottles a year - or could it be 2400 cases? I do not claim to know, just that te first bottles were available in 2001 fall as I recall it. At that time the 1975's were running out and only in some remote shops a few was to be found.

I have been reading with interest some of the descriptions some have given to the 1977 tasted (not very smoky etc). The ones I tasted back then were smoky beasts as the Whisky Magazine critics also state. Perhaps later bottlings of that year vary from this? Interesting. The whisky magazine readers also chose the 1977 Ardbeg as the "whisky of the year" in 2001, that is how it was received then.