It’s time for another instalment in our Ardbeg Feis Ìle series, with Ardcore, Heavy Vapours and Spectacular. This will mark the end for a while, as I skipped the 2025 release and remain unsure about this year’s edition. For now, though, we dive into the Ardcore and Heavy Vapours Committee releases, alongside the General Release Spectacular.
Ardbeg Ardcore Committee Release (2021) Review
This Islay single malt, exclusive to Ardbeg Committee members, was made with black malt barley roasted to extreme levels ‘for intense smokiness’ and bottled at 50.1% ABV. This Committee Release was bottled at the end of 2021 (28.11.2021) but released in advance of Fèis Ìle 2022. I paid €125 at the time for a bottle, but it can be found as low as £100 in the UK, and for less than the initial release price on secondary markets.
Colour:
Pale straw.
Nose:
Neat: Earthy herbaceous peat with toasty notes, fleshy apple, pineapple, peaches, dried apricots, vanilla, caramelised sugar and cashews. Pepper, dark roast coffee and smoky sweetness also emerge.
With water: Peat softens to reveal cream, honey, lemon zest, acidity and brighter fruit.
Palate:
Neat: Bold peat smoke, dark malt, pepper and dark chocolate (around 70%) dominate, with soot, burnt shortbread and darker baked cocoa. Tar, pepper, vanilla sweetness, milk chocolate, citric touch and a slight sourness develop.
With water: Juiciness improves with tar, pepper, vanilla and milk chocolate; peppery kick, honey and citrus balance the smoke.
Finish:
Smoke with pleasant dark chocolate, soot and dark malt linger without bitterness; lengthy with lemon, vanilla, creamy sweetness and pepper.
Comments:
Smoky and sweet, it’s solid but hardly mind-blowing—not truly breathtaking, nor particularly hardcore despite the name.
Rating: 6/10
Ardbeg Heavy Vapours Committee Release (2022) Review
The next Ardbeg Feis Ile expression for Committee members, released in advance of Fèis Ìle 2023, was distilled without the still’s purifier to let ‘heavy vapours’ rise, supposedly creating a disrupted, darker profile. The Committee Release was bottled at 50.2% ABV on the 21st of November 2022, without chill filtration nor added colour. The release price was a hefty €135 in France.
Colour:
White wine.
Nose:
Neat: Heavy peat smoke with vegetal/mezcal notes, sea shells, iodine, vanilla, buttery malt, pepper, coffee grits and citrus peels. Herbal earthiness, aniseed, charcoal ash and light cacao add complexity.
With water: Peat eases to show brighter vanilla, honey, citrus zest and coastal salinity; vegetal notes soften.
Palate:
Neat: Creamy yet sometimes thin/watery mouthfeel with ash, lemon, chalk, liquorice, white pepper and smoky phenols. Bittersweet dark chocolate, cumin, cardamom, sugar sweetness and metallic youth emerge, lacking classic Ardbeg fruit balance.
With water: Smoother and sweeter, with enhanced honey, buttery malt, salt-cooked meats and reduced bitterness/metal.
Finish:
Medium long with lingering ash, pepper, liquorice, smoky tar and subtle umami; can turn slightly bitter or drying.
Comments:
It lacks interest, flavour and refinement, coming across as a young and harsh Ardbeg. If you missed it when it was released, there’s no need to chase a bottle now; a standard Ardbeg Ten or Ten Cask Strength will give you far more pleasure and save you quite a bit of money too.
Rating: 5/10
Ardbeg Spectacular Limited Edition (2023) Review
Ardbeg Spectacular is the distillery’s first Fèis Ìle release to feature port cask maturation—a blend of heavily peated spirit aged in Ruby Port pipes and bourbon barrels, bottled at 46% ABV. Unlike previous years, there was no Committee edition for Fèis Ìle 2024, just the one expression available to all. It was bottled between the 14th and 16th of November 2023, without chill filtration nor added colour, as usual with Ardbeg. I paid €120 for a bottle back in 2024, but now you can get it for less than €100/£100, and even less at auction.
Colour:
Jonquille.
Nose:
Neat: Medicinal peat smoke and coal tar soap mingle with heather honey, bittersweet malt, milk chocolate and dried fruits. Lavender, vetiver, incense, wax, almonds and vanilla fudge add depth, with smoked fish and white pepper hints.
With water: Gentler wood smoke, damp peat moss, menthol, antique leather and brighter fruit notes emerge
Palate:
Neat: Silky with salty-sweet toastiness: peat smoke, eucalyptus, mint chocolate, toffee, smoked pecans, creosote and tar. Bonfire ash, lemon, pear, lavender, sugar paper and pepper; drier than expected with subtle port influence.
With water: Sweeter and more balanced with enhanced fudge, pear crumble and reduced dryness.
Finish:
Long, warming and very dry with smouldering bonfire, salted caramel, menthol and lingering peat.
Comments:
I approached this Ardbeg with low expectations, given recent disappointments and the port cask maturation. How wrong I was. I opened my bottle just a few weeks ago to share at my whisky club’s Ardbeg session, and we were all happily surprised by its quality.