Islay distillery Ardbeg has added a 25-year-old expression to its core range – the oldest permanent Scotch whisky bottling from the brand.
Ardbeg 25 Years Old is a single malt that was distilled in the 1990s before being bottled at 46% ABV after 25 years of maturation.
Although the whisky is part of the brand’s core range, it will be available in limited quantities due to its age.
Ardbeg 25 Years Old is available now worldwide, including from specialist whisky retailers and clos19.com, priced at RRP £710 (US$970) per 700ml bottle.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s whisky creator, said: “After a quarter of a century in the cask, you’d be forgiven for imagining that Ardbeg 25 Years Old would have lost some of the hallmark smoky punch. I can assure you it hasn’t.
“And yet there’s also a remarkable complexity and elegance to this whisky that I find utterly captivating. It’s unmistakably Ardbeg, but unlike any Ardbeg you’ve tasted before.”
Tasting notes include smoked cream, peppermint, toffee, fennel and pine resin on the nose, leading to a ‘vibrant, hot peppery mouthfeel’ with flavours of sherbet lemon, carbolic soap and tar, creamy toffee, aniseed and chilli pepper. The finish is said to be long, mellow and lingering, with cream, fudge and antiseptic notes.
Last week, Ardbeg unveiled its first rye cask-matured whisky – Arrrrrrrdbeg! – to commemorate the retirement of distillery manager Mickey Heads.
