Ardbeg Grooves

Late again… you know, vacation and such.

Ardbeg Grooves was the yearly release for Ardbeg Day 2018. It is made with some red wine casks that were intensely (re-)charred, resulting in heavy grooves in the wood.

Ardbeg Grooves (46%, OB 2018)

Nose: sour berries, eucalyptus and hints of rubber shoe soles at first. Vanilla pastry, toasted wood and salted popcorn. Strawberries in the background. A bit of a funny mix so far. Pine resin and briny notes. White pepper too. Youngish and you feel the aromatic wood trickery, but nothing’s out of balance so it kinda works.

Mouth: bittersweet notes and heavy soot, kippers and plenty of brine. White pepper, cloves, ginger. Even a mustardy sharpness. Then back to citrus, pear drops and vanilla. Fades on burnt herbal notes.

Finish: quite long and warming. Smoked pimentón. Tarry and briney notes.

This is very sooty but also fairly dry and oaky, with plenty of spices. It feels a little doctored. This wouldn’t work in the core range (especially at this price) but it’s nice to try as an experiment. Still available from The Whisky Barrel for instance.

Score: 86/100