[March, 2017]  Another Ardbeg re-taste:  When the first Corryvreckan was released I found it not just a very interesting dram with a new, never before tasted profile (due to its share of virgin oak matured malt) but it became my favourite modern Ardbeg too.  And I scored it with 88 points.

Today I tried a recent bottling of the Corryvreckan and - what a disappointment:  It is rather unbalanced and with a slightly drying/bitter finish (not as extreme as with the recent TEN or Uigeadail, but still unpleasant).  I guess Ardbeg increased the share of virgin oak matured spirit in this recipe significantly and this higher proportion of heavy tannins (and lower share of sweet bourbon flavours) harm not just the balance but the mouthfeel too.

This is most probably due to the problem that LVHM has difficulties in sourcing enough bourbon casks from the US.  The scotch whisky boom came at a time when the US whisky industry was in deep recession - so the Scotch demand for used bourbon casks was and still is much higher than the US distilleries can supply. As a consequence the Scottish distilleries cut down the maturation times to use the same cask more often (and masked this by introducing NAS whiskies) AND (as this was not enough) they had to use virgin oak casks in addition.  For sure they market this as an intentional strategy, but it is pure despair in the end.  What can do you if you do not have enough good quality casks at your hands?

The outcome is devastating (at least to my taste buds) but hopefully they create a new followership among all the new whisky aficionados that do not know how good Ardbeg and all the other great drams once tasted...

Ardbeg - and the hype goes on! Named after a whirlpool north of Jura, Corryvreckan is a NAS core range expression with cracking 57.1% ABV. With its combination of candy floss, orange zest and delicate BBQ peat smoke, the nose starts out promising. On the palate, the dry and spicy arrival is entirely dominated by French oak, followed by a blast of briny peatiness. Unpleasantly bitter herbs and grapefruit creep in, culminating in a peppery-dry finish which is medium at best. Not a complete disaster, but a bit disappointing given the whisky's reputation.

RATING: 3.7/5.0 stars ≙ 85 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE [+]

A very fierce, wild, extreme and also unbalanced malt with significant virgin-oak-influence, also with distinct Ardbeg-characteristics. Not my style, but well done.

A varied and demanding dram.

Ardbeg Corryvreckan 57.1% ABV (Bottled November 2017):⁣

Expectations were high but the cask influence is too overwhelming for my palate. I’ve seen rumors that the use of French Virgin Oak has increased with recent batches and that doesn’t surprise me one bit based on my tasting. This is still decent whisky but I don’t think it deserves any hype (at least my batch year).⁣
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Score: 83/100⁣

I actually prefer this one over the basic Ardbeg Ten (I rate that one higher because of its price/performance ratio). And I do firmly believe, that there are some older whiskies in the bottle. Yet it should be slightly cheaper. And again those fresh oak notes might be off-putting to some people. A combination of sherry and peat (like you have it in Uigeadail) is much more pleasant to a wider audience. I preffer Corryvreckan anyday though. Its truly a whirpool of tase. Those 57,1 % of alcohol make it even better.