ARDBEG
One of the great and understandably legendary distilleries of Islay. A huge distillate, packed with peat, costal zing, tarry, phenolic and smouldering bonfire notes. Like many of the great distilleries there are quite distinct eras of production. The 1970s and earlier being the legendary years of huge, oily, powerful, complex whisky, massively idiosyncratic and unmistakable to whisky lovers. Theree's hardly a bad one of the many hundreds of wonderful bottlings from this era, both official and independent. The 1990s are a little lighter and more prone to wonderfully elegant notes of camphor, resin, wood smoke and oily phenolic complexity. The best examples are again spread between official and independent releases. The modern era - from 1997 onwards - is sweeter with a renewed potency of peat and an ashy, citrus mineral edge. Great examples have been bottled officially and by various indy bottlers including the SMWS.