What you need to know: 

• Ardbeg will be releasing a new ex-Sherry 8 Year Old bottling titled “For Discussion”.
• It will be bottled at 50.8% ABV and feature notes of smoke, charcoal, salted caramel, coffee and even burnt toast!
• Ardbeg is inviting fans to participate in this interaction by providing feedback on the bottlings’ ex-Sherry maturation which is a relatively new territory for Ardbeg.
• We think this is gonna be a good one!

Ardbeg is prototyping an all new ex-Sherry 8 Year Old bottling that will be released to its Committee (which we constantly encourage all to join as it is FREE - link here). Its name? “For Discussion”. 

“An aged ex-Sherry whisky is new territory for us, so naturally, we want some thoughts. We’re sharing this with the Committee’s experienced palates to help us find that smoky sweet spot.

“With notes of bold peat smoke, creosote (fancy word for soot), charcoal and salted caramel, it’s more than guaranteed to provoke discussion among those privileged enough to taste it.”

Tasting Notes:

Nose:

Aromas of charcoal, treacle toffee, hints of milk chocolate and aniseed.

Palate:

A ‘distinctively peppery mouthfeel’ and flavours of salted caramel chocolate, eucalyptus, menthol and burnt toast.

Finish:

A ‘long and lingering’ aftertaste, with a hint of peppermint and clove.

It will be bottled at 50.8% ABV and is ready for discussion on Ardbeg's webstore to Committee members, so remember to sign up as a member!

We can’t wait!

Ardbeg is kindly extending its hand to fans to interact with the distillery and help them figure out what may be more ex-Sherry Ardbeg bottlings in the works down the line.

As such, the distillery has said that it will ensure that unlike most Ardbeg Limited Edition bottlings, this one will NOT run out so quickly, ensuring that there will be sufficient supply.

It is after all a long awaited open call to all Ardbeg fans to throw out ideas about what’s good and what’s not! They’re listening!

If you get your hands on it, Ardbeg wants you to share your thoughts by using the #Ardbeg8ForDiscussion

My Take:

The last time Ardbeg released a bottle up for discussion, it was the precursor to the Ardbeg Alligator in 2011 and the reviews were absolutely raving.

The last time Ardbeg released a bottle for discussion was 2011.

Personally, I would like to try an ex-Sherry Ardbeg since I’ve always believed that Ardbeg’s heavier body would go well with a Sherry maturation and not find itself overpowered.

At a solid 50.8% ABV, I think I have good reason to believe so!

Also note that this is an 8 year old Ardbeg and not a non-age statement (NAS) bottling, so it certainly is going to be worth it as it gets harder and harder to pick up reasonably priced aged malts and NAS prices continue to go up.

So to recap, I am confident this is gonna be good, I am confident this is gonna be worth it, what I am not confident about, is my ability to get it despite the distillery’s assurances.

Let’s hope I’m wrong!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot