Whisky Tasting: Ardbeg Scorch, the breath of the dragon

Finally this whisky has arrived.  After ordering the Ardbeg Scorch at 9am on the 5th of June which was Queens Birthday weekend, and having this arrive more than a month later on 10th July.

Anyway the name Scorch comes from a mythical fire breathing dragon that lived in one of the warehouses of the distillery, laying fire and charing everything in sight.  This theme perfectly describes the first whiff after taking the cork out of the bottle.

Aged in heavily charred american oak ex bourbon barrels and it this with the combination of the peated liquid which makes this very smokey.

Colour: it is a deeper gold than the Ardbeg 10, however this is pretty standard for Ardbeg day releases.

Nose: you get a slap of thick bonfire smoke and burnt oak.  This is more prevalent than in the standard non cask strength whiskies.  Left for a while this brings out medicinal and sweet notes, however if you are not careful, you get a nose full of smoke again.

Flavour: Very pleasant, it is still very sweet even through the peat and charcoal smoke.  This has a distinctive  flavour right from the first pour, and after subsequent pours the flavour does get more diverse.  It has a very long finish, leaving a sweet stale note that seems to get stronger as your mouth dries out.

Overall this is a very robust whisky, very smokey with notes of sweet ask and charcoal. It is definitely distinct over other standard releases and I am looking forward to seeing how this develops over the next few months in the bottles.