Ardbeg Uigeadail Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Launched in 2003, “Uigeadail” (the loch from which all Ardbeg water flows) is a cask strength, heavily peated Ardbeg produced from a mix of bourbon casks and older sherry casks. The combination gives the whisky a nice texture and sweet, smokey finish. Our tasting was from a batch released in 2010. It offers a generous, sherry-influenced nose suggesting dried apricot and marmalade over menthol and sweet cedar smoke. Some ripe green apple notes emerge with time in the glass. The palate is off-dry with a rich, dark chocolate entry becoming heavier and fudge-like with orange chocolate, sweet cereal and the peat continually reinventing itself - at once dry and sooty, then tarry and finally kippery on the finish. The balance at cask strength is excellent and there's some boiled lolly and spice notes through the aftertaste followed by a subtle spearmint fade. Solid stuff for peaters! 54.2% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... A curious Ardbeg with a nose to die for. Some tinkering - please guys, as the re-taste is not better - regarding the finish may lift this to being a true classic. 89 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2019

...Uigeadail is quite different from the 10 Year Old because it is blended from both bourbon and sherry casks, including some older stock. The sherry influence alone makes for a vastly different experience, starting with the nose, which dampens the smokiness with notes of roasted nuts, citrus, and an earthy, leathery character that simply feels like history. The palate offers a rather different experience, which adds to the curiosity and interest, melding smoke with notes of well-roasted meats, walnut shells, pipe tobacco, and cloves. The finish is lengthy and brooding — aided by the considerably higher alcohol level — a lingering reminder of how this Ardbeg may be an entirely different beast, yet just as good as the 10.  - drinkhacker.com

...My God, the first Uigeadail, it was so good back then! But we were in 2004 and we tasted it with Stuart Thompson on site (while smoking cigarettes in the warehouses, different times, different customs. No, just cigarettes). The last Uigeadail we tasted, a 'circa 2017', was still very good (WF 85), but far from the early batches which tended to surf around 92 points. Colour: gold. Nose: it's good, effective, very peaty of course, again with barbecue and ash notes, a sherry influence more discreet than in the past (green walnuts), and some broken branches. Some sap, in short. With water: very, very good, maritime, with very nice notes of barbecue on the beach, when we grill both fresh fish and marshmallows. Not together mind you! Mouth (neat): it's very good, very powerful, with much more substance than in the Corryvreckan. It almost tastes like smoked walnut oil, just like there's smoked sesame oil. In fact, we can find a bit of that too in this Uigeadail. Also some touches of canned peach, which always works. With water: milk chocolate and roasted peanuts. What wouldn't I do for some roasted peanuts!? Finish: long and a bit more drying which is really not unusual. Very nice final finish on oysters and candied citron, plus a bit of walnut oil and chocolate. Comments: oh yes, it talks! Very nice balance in this recent batch, the flame is alive and glowing. 88 points - whiskyfun.com

Nose: Intensely smoky. Dry, clean, tangy smoke. Like standing downwind of the barbecue while steaks are char-grilled on the beach. Palate: Firm, very smooth, then explodes on the tongue. Finish: Hot. Alcoholic. A shock to the system. Comment: The elemental opposite of the sophisticated Lord of the Isles. RATING: 9.25 points - Michael Jackson,whiskmag.com