Ardbeg Ardcore Peated Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Welcome to Whiskey's Journey. My name's Peter Facino. Today is a Monday. I have a peated scotch single malt for a review today. Just like always, we're gonna pour it, nose it, taste it, talk about it a little bit. I'm gonna add some water to it. And then if you stick around to the very end, I'm gonna give this thing a score. So we're taking a look at a peated single malt scotch coming out of Isla, the Ardbeg Hardcore. I wanna say that this stems from a committee release, but the committee releases are a little bit different than what we have here. We're gonna add 46% ABV and non-chill filtered. I believe it's natural color because there's like absolutely no color to this. I'd be surprised if there was. And this is first and second fill ex bourbon. And I think the one unique thing about this one is they're using partial toasted black malted barley. And we're looking at an age statement somewhere around 10 years of age, but it's not age stated. So I don't wanna say that this is 10 years, but based on what I was looking at, I think this is around 10 years of age. 750 milliliter bottle in Phoenix, Arizona. This cost me $134.99. If you've been to this channel for a while, you know that I absolutely love peat, peat in all forms, and this is no different. I do prefer peated sherry, but when it comes to a bourbon cask, I think the peat takes on a little bit of a different profile. Typically when I get a sherry single malt that's peated, I get red fruit notes, but this being ex bourbon, it is really strong on the vanilla. And for some reason, that vanilla is coming across to me sweeter than a sherry. It's peppery, it's smoky. The smoke that I get on this one is kind of running the entire gamut of bandaid and iodine, smoke, meat, and also a campfire log that's been put out. But I'm shocked at how much vanilla I'm getting here. I would also say that there's a pretty good amount of milk chocolate as well, which is bizarre. I hardly ever get milk chocolate in a peated whiskey. And maybe that's the black malted barley. But yeah, the nose of this is spectacular. I'm a huge fan of Ardbeg. Actually, I'm a huge fan of all Islay whiskeys. And who am I kidding? Seems like I'm a big fan of whiskey in general. But as far as peated stuff goes, I think there's a time and a place for Ardbeg. There's a time and a place for Laphroaig. I mean, just pick your distillery. I think they all have their own place and time depending upon your palate. But I like them all. So let's go ahead and get this thing on the pallet and see what I'm picking up. Cheers, everybody. At 46%, I think this is actually hitting too soft for me. I would much rather have a little bit more of a punch. That vanilla note's coming through. I thought the peat note was gonna be a little bit more dominant than it actually is. It's an older bottle, so I don't know if opening and closing this has diminished the amount of peat that I actually had when I originally opened the bottle. But it's really sweet. I mean, I mentioned that before, but I am shocked on how vanilla sweet this actually is. It's malty, it's chocolatey. It is hitting the palate rather soft. I'm not really getting any spice at all. Maybe a little bit of a pepper spice. But this is all pretty much vanilla forward, which is expected because of the ex-bourbon casks. First and second fill, malty, chocolate. I just wish it had a little bit more of a punch. The flavors that are here are good. I just think it's a little bit lackluster. That was my first sip. Let me go ahead and get a second sip in, add some water, talk a little bit about it, and then give it a score. So, second sip, everybody. Yeah, I'm sticking with what I said after the first sip. It's lackluster. It's lacking a punch. The flavors that are here are good. They're just not, they're not wowing me. I mentioned it before, this is based off of the committee release. Let me add some water to this and talk a little bit about that. But I think all of the notes that I was getting on that first sip are still there on that second. It's just lackluster. So, this was released in 2022. And I think the committee release that was released at the distillery was in 2021. And that version came out at 50.1% ABV rather than 46. And the combination, and I don't know if it holds true to this one, the committee release is looking like they used 75% of the regular distilling malt that they typically use. And then they put in 25% of the roasted black malt. I'm guessing that's gonna be the same thing. Since the committee release was a little bit higher in proof, my guess is that they just watered this down a little bit and then released it to us at 46. I don't know if that's the case or not. If you have any insight, let me know in the comments. Also, if you're new to the channel and you've made it this far, if you like what I'm doing here, do me a favor, subscribe to the channel if you're not already. Turn the bell notification on. I produce videos three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each of my segments are slightly different. And then if you wanna support the channel, I have a Patreon. That link is in the description. I have multiple tiers that you can choose from. If you do decide to support the channel, I really appreciate it. I need all the support that I can get. All right, the water. Definitely brought out a whole lot more of those peat notes. Again, it's spanning the entire, I guess, flavor profile of peat. Band-Aid iodine tarriness along with a campfire and a smoked meat. The vanilla note is still there, but it's much diminished with the water. Little bit of a peppery note is lingering around as well. Now, I can just say that overall, I'm a little bit underwhelmed with the flavors, but the flavors that are here are decent. Let me go ahead and get it on the palate. Nope, I will not add water to this. It killed everything. It is pretty much basically now peat-flavored water with a little bit of vanilla. Not a good combination there. 46% is pretty low ABV to begin with. I definitely would like to taste the committee release and compare it to this. Going forward, definitely not adding water to it. And as far as a score goes, I rate everything out of five stars. Of all of the art bags that I have in my collection, I think this one is probably going to be the lowest rated one. Not a whole lot to it. I'm just going to give it three out of five stars. It's not bad. It's just not overwhelming. It's not memorable. As far as art bag goes, they have so many releases and it's very difficult to keep up with the releases that they do have. So in my opinion, if your palate relates to mine, I think this is something that you could probably pass on and try something else. Like the Hypernova that they have is, I mean, leaps and bounds better than this. All right, that is all I have for you today. So wherever you were at in your journey, I hope you're enjoying it and we'll talk to everybody later. Bye.