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Distilled & Bottled by Ardbeg
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Region: Islay
Type: Single malt
ABV: 47.4%
Age: 5yrs
Color: Gold
Ardbeg’s newest addition to its permanent lineup, Wee Beastie is a young, age-stated single malt blended from a combination of sherry and ex-bourbon casks. This whisky is bottled without chill filtration or added color.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Starting with sour barley, the sour note continues and softens a bit with some added sweetness as unripened cherries and raspberries pop up. The nose transitions to some maritime sea spray and a subtle waft of smoke.
Palate: The mouthfeel is light while the salt continues from the nose with an added dash of pepper. The sweetness tastes like smoked, sticky honey
Finish: Decent length, the smoke is strongest here. There’s also barley biscuits with honey and more of that briney/maritime note.
Rating: 6/10
Conclusion: Kudos to Ardbeg for putting an age statement on this release. There is lots of barley & martime/salty notes within and some nice sweetness to balance everything out. I was anticipating a smokier experience given the whisky’s young age, but I found the smoke to be on the gentler side versus the standard 10 year old bottling from their core lineup. And while I enjoyed this, I still prefer the 10 year. For me, the 10 year has more depth that makes it worth the slight price increase of the Beastie.