A 'Monster of a Dram' promised us the outgoing Mickey Heads, it should be a real tongue tingler, Dr Bill lets us know. Wow, plenty of laurels!

EYE / NOSE
The beastie looks pale golden in the nosing glass. The malt has now reached the optimum drinking temperature and the glass has a strong, tar-like smoke note, behind it a little vanilla. I arm myself, because the nose, if not particularly complex, promises a violent rush on the taste buds.

PALATE
Surprise ... the malt has a pleasantly creamy, warm mouthfeel and looks far less powerful than would have been expected after the very strong nose. The nice thing is, metallic bad notes or similar 'youth sins' are inapplicable despite the young years here. However, I don't feel a strong tingling on the tongue. Smoke and tar dominate the taste. The sweetness from the nose is retained, now looks a bit more herbaceous, which is good for the beastie. However, what I lack a bit, even after several rehearsals, are the fruit notes typical of the Ardge region - citrus aromas, for example, which mostly shape the taste profile and perfectly complement the typical smoke. The finesse comes a little short for my taste, due to the lack of complexity.

FINISH / CONCLUSION
Not particularly long for a young Islay. The tar flavors lie on the tongue, there remains a slightly peppery sharpness and an oily mouthfeel, as well as a dry bitterness that increases with the sips. Further water does not help him, at best it makes him less spectacular because it begins to appear watery.
All-in-all not a bad dram, especially since the beastie has no bad notes. He honestly didn't really convince me, because he's just a little monster. I had hoped for it more wildly, impetuously, the powerful, 'factory' water addition washed the young savage a little (too) soft for my taste.

More notes and reviews on Facebook at: #Maltkanzlei

Hey Seashepherd, Ardbeg has killed too many dolphins this year? Seriously? Giving 1 to the wee beastie as well as to the blaaack is just pathetic. Are you confined to one of the Faroe Islands? Were you forced to eat a porpoise steak with Ardbeg sauce?

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/outside-the-box-from-armagnac-to-ardbeg/

If this had been an annual release accompanied with all the bells n whistles marketing flannel and a bumped-up price tag, I’d have ignored it. But it’s affordable, available [in Europe but not the UK yet ?!?], and its got an age statement. ‘Brave’, some say. I agree, and yet 5yo whisky has been around for decades. A common sight on the whisky landscape of the 1960s-80s, Scotch with a 5yo age statement was a regular feature for distilleries such as Auchentoshan, Balblair, Caperdonich, Glenburgie, Glenesk, Glenfarclas, Glen Flager, Glen Grant, Glen Moray, Glen Scotia, Tomatin, Tullibardine,…. and many others. Modern examples include Bunnahabhain [Staoisha], Octomore [05.1], Gelston’s, Hinch, Akashi,… Whisky with a 5yo age statement isn’t a new manoeuvre. We’ve just had to endure a number of heavy marketing/NAS/anti-disclosure years to get back to where we were.

So how is the Ardbeg? Very pleasing. This smells and tastes like the ingredients its made of – toasted malted barley and sweet vegetal peat smoke. All good so far.

And the ‘wee’ [47.4%] punch? I find it decidedly relaxed. Also, there is no neck pour issue, but again, we are outdoors which must be having quite an effect.
The form is measured and overall, it’s clean but not clinical.

C: Another good move from Ardbeg. Really impressed with this wee 5yo. I don’t think peeps will be disappointed.
[Provisionally scores 85 poitns]

straight forward.....