Ardbeg Corryvreckan 57.1% sample NV

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (90)

I really enjoyed the first Corryvreckan back in around 2008 (WF 90) and it's quite refreshing that Ardbeg have kept this bottling in their range, although I guess newer batches are now younger. Let's see...

Colour: pale gold.

Nose: starts crisp and pure, although rather less ‘Ardbeg’ then earlier botlings. In a way, this could be mistaken for Caol Ila, not a bad thing, obviously. That means we find apple peelings, seaweed, whiffs of garden bonfire, then a little antiseptic, camphor, grapefruit and plain seawater. Almost forgot our bellowed whelks ;-). With water: things keep improving. More smoke, ‘a working kiln’, smoked fish, hessian… and all that jazz.

Mouth (neat): rich, punchy, more Ardbeg, with an oily mouth feel. Peat smokiness, lemons, grapefruits, touches of salt, bitter grass and just a little aniseed and liquorice wood. I find this pretty excellent. More vanilla and light honey after one minute or two. With water: it’s funny how it gets both smokier and sweeter. Smoked vanilla cream? Smoked maple syrup? Also a little ‘green’ coffee.

Finish: long, salty, very smoky, with notes of cider apples this time.

Comments: maybe the Ardbeggest current Ardbeg. Quality remains high.

Gal Granov (90)

Colour: Golden yellow. darker than i had expected

Nose: Peat of course, undoubted peat, but not too strong. you can smell lots of Citrus notes here, mostly Oranges and kumquat, and hints of spice. definitely an Ardbegian nose in terms of lemons and citrus. love it!

Palate: This is a really complex dram. It starts with a wham! , the alcohol bomb is released into the mouth. first you get the sweet tones, malty kind of, some burnt sugar. then, it changes into a more spicy,peppery, and smoky tones. very interesting indeed!

Finish: on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it 11. it’s very long, smoky, the peat is there with you for so long.the ashes do not seem to go away, and the peat/spice/smoke lingers in your mouth for hours. they really do.