Ardbeg 1976

Name: Ardbeg 1976
Brand: Ardbeg
SKU: 1292
Rating: 95.21 (96 reviews)

Overall rating: 95.21/100
votes: 96

Whiskybase ID: WB1292
Category: Single Malt
Distillery: Ardbeg
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Vintage: 24.11.1976
Bottled: 26.03.2002
Calculated age: 25 years old
Casktype: Sherry butt
Casknumber: 2395
Number of bottles: 468
Strength: 54.5 % Vol.
Size: 700 ml
Market: Japan
Added on: 13 Jan 2008 2:48 pm

Average value

€ 3759.19

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Whisky Reviews for Ardbeg 1976

25 users have left a review for this whisky and scored it an average of 95.21 points

ASWhisky scored this whisky 95 points
24 Feb 2015 9:01 am
For this Ardbeg you need rest and time
he unfolds his treasures only after a good while in the glass
drunk too early, he shows something grumpy and old in the mouth
yes! I'm in heaven

Nose

the smell in the standing glass after pouring:

ripe lemons and oranges in a damp sherry barrel
an old cellar and the salty sea air
liquorice
dried malt
Caro coffee with medicine

panned and ventilated:

the humid sea air has seized over the many years on the basement walls
the musty walls exhale the salt of the sea
remind you of sun, of oranges and again of salty and maritime
You think back to warm French summer evenings
oysters and sultriness and the smell of pleasure
You feel the taste of pastis

Taste

You still feel the memories in your mouth
hot and spicy but also spicy and soft
they stick to your palate and your throat
dry sherry
intense old barrel flavors
like the melting of sweet chocolates chocolate over bitter chocolate
a slight oysters note
Sun-ripe oranges and lemons
caramel
salt

Finish

very long and wet
all memories flow together in your mouth to a single beautiful feeling
soft, sweet, distinctive and seductive
Lorion scored this whisky 93 points
26 Jul 2018 1:36 am
Unquestionably a top-class whisky. Multi-layered and still extremely good. He strongly reminds me of the Special Vatting by Michel Couvreur. A good deal more complex (than the batches I know) and less sherrylastig. But similar in the great combination of sherry, oak and smoke. Absolutely great. Unfortunately, there are slight tart hints, whereas I am allergic. Therefore, there are - I hardly dare to write this word - "only" 93 points.

Nose

First there is earthy smoke. Encrusted peat that begins to glow slowly. Then comes a surge of sweetness. Full and intense. Slightly chilling, the smoke stays there, it has something of mint. The chocolaty side of the Sherry comes through. This is not a modern oak and espresso owl. This is Old School, soft and elegant. Grapes and fresh plums. Raisins and this great sweet-sweetie. With some time, the smoke goes back further. As a sweet-maritime seaweed and herbal mixture, it stays there. Slightly sherry notes are now added. Tree bark. Tart wood flashes briefly (to my horror), luckily it evaporates and makes burned caramel place. Popcorn - sweet and salty. Both. Grapefruit also answers. The wine character is getting stronger. Gradually, smoke, sherry and oak come together to form a harmonious unit.
Water : The unit returns to different components. The smoke is losing. The sweetie hesitates. The fruit takes a step forward, but the oak rushes off. Again slightly acidic wood flashes, again only briefly, and then comes mountain pine. Resin. It settles down again with recurring chocolate in the "grandiose" area.

Taste

Full sweetie. The mouth is full. Smoke is added immediately, more clearly than in the nose. Tree bark in honey. Smoked orange. Sweet chocolate with pepper and salt. Nutty wine. Licorice. With the swallowing comes seaweed and Isla moss lollipop. Salty, maritime and sweet and bitter to taste. The maritime character in the mouth remains sticky sweet.
Water : Liquid chocolate. The smoke needs something and does not prevail, only after longer moments he crawls through the pharynx. Rum grape nut chocolate everywhere in the mouth with bark and some sweet moss - crazy. Water does quite well, the whisky does not lose its intensity, it even wins.

Finish

Long. Discreetly smoky. Very easily, a bitterness spreads. Milk coffee, a touch of dark chocolate with sea salt.
Archer scored this whisky 96 points
30 Dec 2021 10:20 pm
A whisky that you only get very, very few times in a glass. Absolutely fantastic.

Nose

97 97

Oh, this is going to be big ...
An incredibly multi-layered sherry nose with a truly beguiling scent of old leather, flavored pipe tobacco, dusty oak shelves, raisin bread, dried figs.
The cellar door opens and out comes a musty, musty and at the same time homely note. The cellar must have a buried connection to the sea, because maritime, salty aromas are now emerging - as is a very fine note of peat smoke that had previously been hidden behind the old wood. Chocolate with a high cocoa content, nutmeg, some lovage, anise, cloves, dried lavender.

Taste

96 96

Strong, full and with much more peat smoke than I noticed in my nose. It fully confirms the impression from the nose, because it delivers such an incredibly impressive play of aromas that it is a real pleasure. Dark chocolate with licorice applications, dried lavender, thyme, rosemary and fresh oregano, together with dried apricots and grilled orange slices, result in an exotic-looking, yet extremely tasty mixture.

Finish

96 96

You can taste it for a long time. The aromatic, musty cellar impression gives its goodbye, the sherry barrel aromas really turn up again, accompanied by the aforementioned spices. A finish that is rarely seen.
Noface83 scored this whisky 96 points
30 Dec 2021 10:01 pm
Fantastic and damn close to absolute perfection.
Old-school sherry character with dark sweetness, old plum, nut notes and orange zest, old whisky flavor, maritime without end - fresh oysters with a dash of lemon that you eat in an old earthy cellar, liquorice, warm aromatic smoke, beautiful old ones Oak, cocoa powder.
Then in the mouth heavy smoke, orange again, fiery warm, chocolate, nutty dry sherry, again maritime and subtle liquorice. The old oak and cocoa powder again resonate somewhat.
The finish is infinitely long. It starts with herbs dried over a campfire, aromatic smoke, dark chocolate and salty liquorice. In the end, there is a super pleasant old oak with a burnt touch and a pinch of salt and a dash of lemon on old tobacco leaves.

Nose

97 97

Taste

96 96

Finish

96 96
lincolnimp scored this whisky 92 points
05 Dec 2020 12:47 pm

Ardbeg H2H

I had a 2014 ten year just to get my palate used to the taste, I am no Ardbeg fan and still think most Ardbeg are scored too high generally but I will admit there was some quality in the old stuff on show in this tasting. On personal preference, even with these highly rated drams I found it all just a little bit dull at the end and while I scored the 1972 OB 93-94points and a clear winner with the Ardbeggeddon on 92 (would have been higher but for a lack lustre nose which dragged it's score down), the supposed best Ardbeg of all the 1976 was 3rd also on 92 but the Ardbeggeddon had a better taste & finish.

I do these tastings for a reason, apart from my personal enjoyment it sometimes debunks for me the myths of how good some whisky is supposed to be, this is one of those times. The whisky here was good, I am not saying it isn`t but Ardbeg has always been and always will be not as good as everyone else thinks it is in my humble opinion, it does not reach the heights of say 1970's young, peated Glen Garioch or the best Brora, not even close apart from the 72 OB but that is just one man's humble opinion.
As a side issue the 10 year from 2014 could hold it's head up and the Lord of the Isles for the money is rubbish and dull as dishwater, I think I am being generous awarded it 85p.

Tasting order (lowest abv first)

1-Ardbeg 10 year 46% 2014 OB WB ID 67284
2-Ardbeg Lord of the Isles 25 year 2001 46% OB WB ID 14204
3-Ardbeggeddon 1972 Douglas Laing OMC 29 year 48.4% WB ID 5102
4-Ardbeg 1972 30 year cask 2782 49.9% OB WB ID 1295
5-Ardbeg 1973 27 year 50% Douglas Laing OMC 240 bottles WB ID 5581
6- Ardbeg 1974 23 year cask 1045 50.9% Signatory dumpy WB ID 7382
7- Ardbeg 1976 25 year cask 2395 54.9% OB WB ID 1292

Result

1st-Ardbeg 1972 30 year cask 2782
2nd- Ardbeggeddon 1972 Douglas Laing OMC 29 year 48.4%
3rd- Ardbeg 1976 25 year cask 2395 54.9% OB
4th- Ardbeg 1973 27 year 50% Douglas Laing OMC
5th- Ardbeg 1974 23 year cask 1045 50.9% Signatory dumpy
6th- Ardbeg 10 year 46% 2014 OB
7th- Ardbeg Lord of the Isles 25 year 2001 46%
lincolnimp scored this whisky 92 points
05 Dec 2020 12:53 am
A good example of an old sherried Ardbeg, certainly nice stuff but I preferred the 1972 cask 2782 to this one

Nose

92 92

Decent nose, rich sherry that is masking the peat, stewed dark fruits, plus a touch of Christmas spice
Smells really rich like some of the best and darkest Christmas cakes.

Taste

93 93

Creamy & peaty, dark rich plums, black currants, something slightly meaty, with some ginger and a pepper note.
A few drops of water makes it a little smoother and releases more dark fruit and more peat/pepper
Good balance on show here

Finish

92 92

Quite long and sweet
foxboro scored this whisky 98 points
10 Oct 2019 8:12 pm

Once in a lifetime ... unbelievable
dram-drinker scored this whisky 99 points
19 Dec 2015 12:00 am

Full bodied and intensive sweet in the nose. Fantastic balance of peat and sweetness with a very fruity and maritime expression. Very Salty and even a bit leathery. Certainly one of the best old Ardbegs. Excellent 99 points!
MaltHaus scored this whisky 92 points
07 Jan 2022 3:06 pm
Nose

93 93

Taste

92 92

Finish

92 92
peatjens scored this whisky 92 points
31 Dec 2021 10:15 am
Thanks Santa for the sample :)

Nose

93 93

Taste

92 92

Finish

92 92

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