Ardbeg 1977

[sorren]

There are some iconic distillerys in the whisky buisness, and Ardbeg has to be one of the main ones, this distillery is like marmite, you either love it or hate it. The fan base for Ardbeg is massive, people go mad for it, it is the Manchester United of whisky, with its huge peat influence the whisky is quite intense. Many fans will tell you that the profile has changed over the years, the older liquid is better they say, well I am about to find out, this is my first opertunity to taste anything other than the 10yo, so I am quite looking forward to this.
This malt is said to be the most phenolic in the business, (peated to 50ppm)with the soft pure water that runs through the peat to the peat fired kilns.
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This expression from 1977 is bottled at 46%abv.

Nose… Wait a minute, this is Ardbeg .. Isn’t it.. I was not expecting this, Ardbeg meets subtle aromas, it starts with a lovely subtle fruity infused smoke, it is quite elegant, subtle orange and nectarine notes mingle with smouldering wood notes.

Palate.. A little more like what I expected, although still subtle, the peat is more prominent, quite dry with fruity notes, orange marmalade, charcoal and cinder toffee notes with bonfire toffee, a subtle note of soft liquorice along with some tobacco like notes.

finish.. I’ll tell you when it does..

Thoughts.. This Ardbeg has taken me by surprise, I was expecting big full on, smack your lips with a baseball bat flavours but instead I got subtle, delicate complex flavours that really have made me think twice. This is the reason thousands of people love the taste, I know the younger expressions are more full on but this is WHISKY, this is what it is all about, this is what you offer your friends and expect silence while they nose and sip what they have in thier hands, this is what puts that smile on faces, and warms the cockles.. I feel quite privaliged to have been given the chance to try this, I really do hope I get the chance of trying some other older Ardbegs one day..

[Quaich1]

Excellent notes Sorren. I do really like the older Ardbegs. I had the opportunity to try the 27 year and 32 year, both CS Laing. Fantastic!
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[dramblersanonymous]

I tried a handful of the early 70's bottlings about 10 years ago. Worked in the industry and got taken off to islay for a superb 3 day tasting session. Unbelievable juice. Shame I can't afford to buy it myself!

[Alastair]

The Ardbeg 1977 was one of the best of the 1970s Ardbegs I have tasted, there was also a few Ardbeg 1975 single cask expressions which were superb. I finished my last bottle of the 1977 a few years ago, I wish I had bought more and tucked it away.

[sorren]

There seems to be a theme.. A lot of distilleries were producing fantastic whisky in the 70s, Auchentoshan and Glenfarclas had some unbelievable whisky from that era, the Ardbegs and Bowmores were great and a port Ellen and some of the caol ila that I had from the 70s has been stunning.. Unfortunatley it's getting rather expensive..