Superpatterns

It's been far too long since my last whisky posting, but here we are, relaxing on a Sunday evening with Karen's parents visiting, sampling a rather nice bottle of Ardbeg - distilled in 1975, bottled in 1999 and bought about 5 years ago, I guess. Certainly before we moved to the US.

This is a peaty, peaty malt from Islay. It starts off very smooth (not surprisingly, as it spent 24 years mellowing in the cask), then the peat hits you. It's by no means overpowering, but it's certainly all there. The finish is heather and smoke. A very fine dram indeed - highly recommended. If you can find a bottle of the 1975, you are lucky indeed, if not, then all of the Ardbeg is good.

(On a whim, I just searched Google Products for Ardbeg 1975 and it found a bottle on eBay. You can 'buy it now' for a nickel under $530. Hoo-wah!)