Review #35 - Ardbeg Uigeadail
NAS Ardbeg Mini-Series: Part 3 of 3
The final piece here: Uigeadail, coming in with a heavier sherry cask finish, believed to be Oloroso casks, though there is ex-bourbon aging as well. Like the Corryvreckan, this comes in at a sort of cask strength, now at 54.2% ABV. Winner of many spirit competition awards (we'll leave it you to decide how meaningful those are), this is also said to be the favorite whisky of the 120,000+ strong Ardbeg committee.
Generally, we love a peated whisky that also has some dark sherry influence in it; we love that barbecue, the spicy fruits, the thought of holiday foods next to a roaring fire. This was actually the scene that pushed us into the whisky hobby in the first place - in our first review, we mentioned a first tasting of Lagavulin 16 by the fire on a Christmas family visit, and it totally altered our perception of this drink category. With those memories so close to our heart, and the holiday season arriving once more, it's a great time to take a look at Ardbeg's offering in that realm, the Uigeadail.
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Scotland/Islay - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 86 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 86 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 54.2% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-Oloroso sherry and ex-bourbon casks
Details: Non chill filtered
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 12 months; bottles at 50%, 70%, and 30% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Big barbecue smoke and sweet sauce, and plenty of peat. Meaty, full-bodied and rich even on the nose, and with a dark complexion throughout the experience. In terms of oak, it's a medium influence, and a decent ashy note low in the glass; also some mild black pepper, and a dry campfire on the beach. Decently coastal, with brine and iodine, just a bit of funk, even a hint of formaldehyde; the longer the bottle is open, the more salty and medicinal it gets. Then we get onto the fruits: dried raisins and prunes, juicy strawberry, cherry, and plum; there is earthy fig, as well as a bit of sweet orange oil. We finish this section with some smoked fish, as well as cinnamon raisin toast.
Palate: Both sweet and dry, and a medium-thick mouthfeel to boot. Great strong peat and dry wood smoke, very rich, and lots of dark flavors again: barbecue, oils, caramel, barbecue sauce, black currant; dry red wines, prune, fig, meat, dry fruits in general. Sometimes that meat comes in as a dry-rub, sometimes it's more of a saucy filet. Sweetness grows as this opens up, and those purple dry fruits are ever-present. In terms of spice, we find a pepper prickle, some cinnamon sugar butter, and other baking spice; there is medium oak now as well, which transitions to leather and cigar smoke. At the end, it's a juxtaposition between heavy ash and cream soda.
Finish: Medium-long finish, lots of oil, just a bit of heat as well. Sweet sherry and red/purple fruit notes are balanced by mild peat, slightly more drying oak, and campfire smoke. It's plum and prune, molasses syrup, salt and vanilla, and at the end, some spiced red wine.
Final Note: Close call for us between this and the Corryvreckan, but this Uigeadail narrowly edges the win. Something about that mixture of sweet cask influence and heavy peat is just so good, always a winning combination in our book, and it's quite well balanced in this bottle. Lots of flavors to explore, we could sit with this glass for a long time. As for the value - so far in our geographical market, this has not seen the same price increases as the Corryvreckan, which has gone up about 25%. Even at $80 to $90, this strikes us as a pretty good value, and if prices stay near their current level, we'll likely pick up a replacement when our current bottle is empty, which won't be far off.
Our Average Rating: 8.1 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.37
