Lights, camera, action!
Ardbeg's taking inspiration from 1960's Italian cinema with the new limited release of the Ardbeg Dolce.
What of course makes this release special and has piqued much curiosity, is its use of sweet (hence the Dolce) Sicilian Marsala fortified wine casks for its finishing, that's over the classic Bourbon American oak matured Ardbeg.
The famous Church of Purgatorio in Sicily.
Now, Marsala (not to be confused with Masala, the South Asian spice blend) is in fact a fortified wine that's made in Marsala, Sicily, that's in the southmost of Italy and essentially an island of its own that sits across from Tunisia on the African continent. Marsala is a protected produce of the Marsala region - that is it can only be called Marsala if made in Marsala - with its own DOC and PDO status, and had been once incredibly popular as a result of a Liverpool merchant, John Woodhouse, who had in the 1770's arrived at the port of Marsala and had discovered the local wine which was traditionally aged in wooden casks and reminded him of Spanish and Portuguese fortified wines that were having a real moment in England then. Woodhouse had also figured that like other then popular fortified wines such as Sherry, Marsala was aged in a similar fashion with the use of a solera system that made the wine suitable for withstanding long voyages needed for its export. Woodhouse was in fact spot on and would help introduce Marsala to the English who absolutely loved it, which prompted Woodhouse to speed up commercialising the wine. Subsequent English merchants would further help to bring the wine to other parts of Europe and the Americas, which established the Italian fortified wine's category as the key wine of the world that it is today.
Marsala is one of the world's iconic fortified wines.
Marsala wines are typically made from local Grillo, Inzolia, Catarratto and Damaschino white grapes which is then fermented and then fortified by adding neutral grape brandy to a base wine, which is then aged in oak, with younger wines systematically blended in with aged wines as is in the solera system for Sherry. Like other fortified wine categories, Marsala is made in various styles, with varying tiers of sweetness, ranging from very dry, to secco, semisecco and dolce, in increasing orders of sweetness. It is then aged for different lengths of time, which determines the style, with Fine Marsala aged for at least a year, Superiore having two years of ageing, and Superiore Riserva aged for at least four years, amongst other classifications. Whilst traditionally enjoyed as an aperitif, Marsala is more often used for cooking. It typically yields rich and fruity flavours, which are classically characterised by confectionary flavours of vanilla, brown sugar, stewed apricot and tamarind.
Marcello Mastroianni plays Marcello Rubini, a gossip writer, alongside Anita Ekberg, in the cult 1960 Italian classic La Dolce Vita.
And so back to Ardbeg, the Ardbeg Dolce is named after the sweet Sicilian Marsala Dolce casks used for the whisky's finishing, and takes inspiration from the Italian philosophy of life, La Dolce Vita, that is, "the sweet life", which also happens to be the name of a cult Italian cinema classic of the same name, released in 1960, featuring Marcello (directed by the legendary Federico Fellini), a gossip columnist who aspires to be a well-respected writer, only to find himself enmeshed with Rome's high society elites and often caught up with several women he comes to meet. This is Ardbeg's first ever use of Sicilian Marsala Dolce casks, and was made to convey the "slow pace of Sicilian island life and the glamour of 1960s Italian cinema,... with Mediterranean sensibility fused to the rugged, windswept character of Islay".
Without further ado, let's get to it!
Whisky Review: Ardbeg Dolce, 47.8% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Dark Gold
Aroma: Opens with a sweet smokiness of barbecue, charcoal fired teriyaki wings, with just a slight ashiness that's then backed up closely with a deeper, richer sweetness. With time, the smokiness lets up to reveal secondary peaty layers of coastal iodine, oyster shells, briny sea spray, along with a mossy bit of damp pine forest floors and wet wood. Little blends of burnt grass, charred meats, and medicinal bandages that sit between the layers. At the core the just slightly sweet richness comes in the form of cooked down fruits, of apricot jams, apple pie fillings and orange marmalade, spanning all the way to darker fruits of plums, prunes, raisins and dark cherries and just alittle bit of more tart raspberries too, all well coaxed in with brown sugars, cacao, floral acacia honey, and dusted with baking spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa powder. Swaths of vanilla and marzipan cusps the core, alittle herbaceous too with mint, menthol and licorice, almost alittle bit herbal, with then an outline of lemon zest. It's compactly and richly layered yet not overtly heavy, with in fact quite abit of energetic verve and liftedness.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it strikes initially as rich and dense, rather thick and creamy, even alittle oily and syrupy, yet surprisingly not quite heavy. It's really textural and almost chewy, with then the lusciously honeyed orchard fruits really forward yet unhurried. It's broad with candied and sugared fruits of apricots, oranges, apples, plums and prunes that flow forth, mixed in with baking spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and licorice, and also some candied ginger, with cracks of black pepper. It's somehow not all that sweet, with even a slightly grainy tannic grip of thick oak grains. Enveloping it is that sweet yet mossy smokiness, just alittle bit of ash, both coastal and earthy, briny and medicinal all at once, with that signature tar, iodine, kombu, sea spray, burnt hay, forest floors and dusty tire rubber. There's a more confectionary tone of vanilla and marzipan, with also an understated malty richness, that's almost pillowy and of Graham crackers, deftly lifting the body up, with then some charred lemons outlining it. Little chunks of dark chocolates and a touch of spent coffee grounds waft about as well.
Finish: Really long finish, with a more prominent spiced character showing up, of cinnamon and cloves, with also some nuttiness in the way of bitter almond skins and marzipan, with alittle bit of salted caramel backing it up. It's just as rich and creamy as it was on the body, the smokiness seamless abating, leaving behind citrus tones of burnt orange peels and chocolate coated orangettes, with sprigs of mint and some menthol too. Some ashiness stays on, with alittle bit of polished oak, with some honeyed prunes and lemon sherbet that show up long into the finish.
My Thoughts
A nicely integrated Ardbeg that is as much cask as it is spirit! Here there's distinct influences of both sides, with a good melding of the two in between. It's alittle more bodied than the standard issue Ardbeg, yet surprisingly not quite so heavy, just a tad more unctuous and compact. It strikes a more layered profile, and opens up nicely with some air time, allowing the Marsala casks to reveal itself beneath the immediate Ardbeg roar. It's bold, forward, and unhurriedly charismatic!
For the Ardbeg fans, fret not, there's all those signature lemony fragrances, sweet smoke, coastal and vegetal peat, though for better or worse, not quite so overpowering and all encompassing. Yet at the same time, the Dolce Sicilian Marsala certainly doesn't completely takeover - there were some fears that this was going to be a sugar bomb, it definitely isn't! - although does lend to the spirit some of that more luscious candied orchard fruits, marmalades and jams, sugared nuts, chunks of cacao, with most notably a really nice and forward coating of warm, Mediterranean spices - think Italian desserts and confectionaries. The whisky feels equal parts of everything, giving it a good balance, although it's that much more fun when you hone in on the Italian nougats, cookies and pastries!
This is a solid Ardbeg limited release in a long lineage of Ardbeg's various one-off's, and actually does live up to its story, with a nice little Italian touch to the classic Ardbeg character, making it stand as one of my favourite Ardbeg's as of late. If you like bodied and richer whiskies, layered too with a well executed twist, this one's for you.
Kanpai!
@111hotpot
