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ARDBEG HEAVY VAPOURS KARTONIK 0,7

Name: ARDBEG HEAVY VAPOURS KARTONIK 0,7
SKU: 022777
Price: 694.00 PLN
Availability: InStock

Alcohol percentage: 46%

694 zł

Product available

Ardbeg Heavy Vapours is a Single Malt Scotch Whisky from Islay, released in a general version as a limited edition to mark Ardbeg Day 2023 during the Islay Festival of Music and Malt (Fèis Ìle). As the distillery itself puts it, this is the most exuberant and darkest expression of Ardbeg, one in which the familiar balance between peat and floral-fruity lightness has been deliberately upset.

At the heart of this whisky lies a bold experiment by Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg's Director of Whisky Creation. It is the first whisky in the distillery's history to be distilled without the purifier – the apparatus on the still responsible for maintaining Ardbeg's balance between extreme peat and floral fruitiness. The experiment allowed the heaviest, untamed vapours to rise up the still during distillation, only to then be captured, matured and bottled. Normally, the vapours rising in the still are caught by this component fitted to the lyne arm of Ardbeg's spirit still. It captures the heavier compounds and condenses them, causing them to fall back into the still, where they are reheated and rise once again. This purifying process is meant to impart the floral fruitiness that balances out the mighty peat, but here it was bypassed to achieve a fuller, more uncompromising Ardbeg character.

After distillation, the whisky matured in ex-Bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, bottled at 46%. Using ex-Bourbon casks exclusively gives a better chance of perceiving the effect of the still's modification, without interference from the influence of, say, wine casks.

The distillery describes the aroma and flavour profile as follows: smoke rises with a sticky sweetness. Intense, sharp and aromatic, the distinctive farmyard scent drifts through alongside a crisp note reminiscent of creosote or tarred rope. A splash of water stirs the vapours and a bitter chocolate cream swells up, threaded with a ribbon of smoked artichoke. On the palate, Ardbeg's untamed, darker flavours rise. A bittersweet surge erupts, whipping up ashy coal dust and casting a mist of cardamom, peppermint and coffee grounds. Clouds of bitter chocolate and mentholated eucalyptus roll in, obscuring the fruity and floral notes usually found at Ardbeg's heart. Wisps of aniseed sweets, cinnamon balls and antiseptic lozenges linger on the palate. The Master of Malt reviewers describe the nose as deep, earthy woodsmoke with maritime, salty accents, while on the palate, instead of the expected onslaught, there is intensity in a slightly more restrained guise. Dense, ashy smoke weaves through a palate rich in bitter chocolate, apples, seared honeyed meat and a touch of cumin. Old coffee, more chocolate, smouldering wood and minty herbs.

This is a whisky for lovers of the heavily peated Islay style – best served neat, without any additions, or perhaps with a few drops of water, which, as the producer notes, open up the vapours and draw out the creamy, chocolatey notes. It works well as a digestif after a hearty meal, and pairs nicely with high-cocoa dark chocolate and mature, characterful cheeses. As a limited Ardbeg Day 2023 edition, non-chill filtered, it makes an intriguing proposition for collectors and admirers of the distillery's experimental releases.