Number of bottlings sampled and approved for human consumption:  14
 

Ardbeg 8yo 1991/1999 (43%, Signatory Vintage, 70cl)
(Distilled 28/02/1991, matured in oak casks #617-620, bottled 13/04/1999, bottle #540 of 1730)
Nose: First impressions were 'oily' and 'veggie'. Islay, but not as powerful as the older ones.
Salty overtones, sour undertones. Iodine. Briny. A little smoke. Chloride. Very faint hints of hazelnuts?
Taste: Soft start. It only reveals it's Ardbegness on the tongue after a few seconds. Peat. Iodine.
The heavy Islay hits hard after a few seconds, but soon develops into something gentler.
A surprising sweetness, and then a bitterish finish to top it all off.
Score: 82 points. It shows a lot of development for a 8yo
 

Ardbeg 8yo 1992/2000 (43%, Signatory Vintage, 70cl)
Distilled 19/03/1992, matured in oak casks #414-415, bottled 28/03/2000, bottle #730 of 910)
Nose: Nice! Clean, dry and slightly peaty. After a few seconds leather and salt emerge.
Powerful. The bourbon cask influence is obvious; this is not as 'frivolous' as some OB's.
Deeper and more 'serious' than the previous (1991/1999) bottling. Franc found fruits & oak.
Taste: A little Islayish on the surface but it seems to have a weak heart at first.
Smooth start. Pleasant but not as powerful as you'd expect. Sweet & peat.
Speculaas? But then it picks up with more peat and smoke. Dry, slightly bitter finish.
Score: 85 points . I really like this stuff - it gives a glimpse of what's to come in later years.
 

Ardbeg 9yo 1990/2000 (43%, McGibbon's Provenance Autumn Distillation, 70cl).
Nose: Dry. Seems sweet and fruity at first. Water melon? Dough? Sherry. Spicy.
Diverse but restrained. The Islay character took some time to develop. Wet dog? Bacon.
More leather, salt and organics after a minute, but the fruit remains ever present.
Taste: Sweetish (honey) start, weak center, sourish in the finish.
It's dry and salty but other than that it doesn't have what it takes.
Score: 79 points seems more than enough, quite frankly. This is a sub-standard Ardbeg.
 

Ardbeg 9yo 1990/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, 70cl)
(372 bottles, distilled September 1990, bottled August 2000)
Nose: Soft start. Restrained. Sourish and slightly dusty. Citrus. Dry. Water melon.
With some water it opened up a little - but not much. All it needed was some more time.
Notably more powerful after 15 minutes. Still fruity, but briny as will. Spicy with a hint of smoke.
Taste: Dry. Deceptively soft start, followed by a big sweet burn. Malty and a little sweet.
Peppery prickle. The aftertaste seems to last forever. Very nice, but this is no peat monster.
With some water the start became maltier while
Score: 84 points. Not bad at all - but not spectacular either. Just recommendable.
 

The Ardbeg 9yo 1991/2001 (46%, Murray McDavid, 70cl)
(Distilled 02/1991, matured in Bourbon cask MM2999, bottled 02/2000)
Nose: Dusty. Dry. Light fruits. Menthol? Mint? Slightly oily. Not very expressive.
It smells a bit like the attic of an old grain warehouse. Sweaty socks later on. Organics.
Softly sweet. Strange aroma's for an Ardbeg. Over time, the nose grows more powerful.
Salt. Horse stable. Leather. Bandages? Yes! Still, I can't find a trace of peat in the nose.
Taste: Sourish and smooth start. Restrained, but it develops into a big dry burn.
Slightly gritty. More salt and sweet sensations after a while. Overall improvement.
Wow, this one really needs a few minutes! Some peat. A dry, deep burn and a salty finish.
Score: 87 points . It didn't really seem like an Ardbeg at first, but then there was a sudden Islay explosion.
 

Ardbeg 10yo (46%, OB, bottled +/- 1999, Non Chill-filtered, code L0 039 4ML 08:52, 70cl)
Nose: Starts off rather light- especially at 46%. Sweet at first, followed by smoke and brine.
Needs a few minutes. Salt & ammoniac. Still, there's a constant sweetness in the background.
More iodine than peat, which gives it more of an 'extreme' Islay character than the 17yo.
Taste: A sweet burn picks up some salt along the way before it develops into a mild version of the Ardbeg explosion. Very well balanced - it becomes more 'Islay' after a few minutes. Nice and sweet at first, with a long Ardbeg bang in the middle and a satisfying finish. But it definitely needs a while to reach it's full potential.
Score: 89 points.
 

Ardbeg 17yo (40%, OB, bottled +/- 1997, code L7 338 4ML 11:40, 70cl)
Nose: One of the best bouquets I ever experienced. Hints of oak and salt. Brine.
Some peat, balanced with some sourness and an almost speyside-like sweetness. 
Complex; even more so after some breathing and adding some water.
Taste: Starts off quite soft, but after the trademark "delay" it fully reveals its Islay character.
Peppery finish. In the end, it showed the bitter finish I found in other Ardbegs as well.
This is one of the few malts that improve after opening the bottle, so take your time with this one.
Score: 92 points.
 

Ardbeg 17yo (40%, OB, bottled +/- 2000, code L9 303 4ML 03:13, 70cl)
Nose: Soft start. After some breathing it developed a broad, Speysidish sweetness.
Sweet & sour. Balanced and complex with a whole range of aroma's. Almonds?
Just a few drops caused a new nasal explosion - some oiliness or vegetables?
Taste: Starts out soft, but a wonderful gentle burn soon starts warming your mouth.
The Islay centre slowly dissolves into a bitter finish. Recommendable!
Like a blend of 40% Bowmore, 30% Laphroaig and 30% Bunnahabhain.
Score: 89 points.
 

Ardbeg 1978/1997 'Limited Edition' (43%, OB, no code, 70cl)
Nose: Starts soft and polished for such an old Ardbeg. Relatively round and sweet.
It definitely needed a few minutes to open up - particulary in the nose department.
Lots of complexity in the background - and of course, there's peat.
Taste: Peaty, but encapsulated within a smothering layer of sweetness.
A hint of smoke and sherry. Lots of wood in the finish. No peat monster
Score: 86 points. As a whisky it's excellent, as an Ardbeg it's slightly underwhelming.
 

Ardbeg 1975/1998 (43%, OB, no code, 70cl)
Nose: Peat and salt - more so than the 17yo although the difference isn't that pronounced.
The overall character is a bit more extreme than the 17 at first - and I like extremities in a malt.
The peat vanished quite quickly and abruptly, leaving an unexpected 'Highlandish' sweetness.
Taste: Wonderful, with the traditional Ardbeg delay and all. Peat, but so much more.
Quite soft for an Islay malt. It was almost like there was a soft layer around the peaty heart.
The faintest hint of fruits. After some breathing, it develops some more sweet components too.
Score: 90 points.
 

Ardbeg 24yo 1975/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, 70cl)
(713 bottles, distilled October 1975, bottled May 2000, probably a sherry cask)
Nose: Almost mellow at first, but you can sense the power beneath the surface. Yeast?
Quite clean and a little grainy. Light fruits, sourish notes and some subtle smoke at first.
Then the peat comes to the foreground, followed by leather, salt, brine and horse stable aroma's.
Rubber? Grain attick. Medicinal. With time more and more fragrances join the nasal orchestra.
Taste: Smashing. Absolutely wonderful combination of sweet and peat.
It develops into a salty center with hints of liquorice. Hugely entertaining.
Mellow peat, smoke and a long dry finish that seems to go on forever.
But there is sweetness too. Faint hints of iodine and liquorice in the finish.
The mouth-feel of this malt is simply amazing - perfectly drinkable at 50%!
Score: 92 points. This is one of the few malts that makes it into the 90's based primarily on taste.
This OMC bottling has lots of subtleties and finesse, without denying its Islay heritage.
 

Ardbeg 1974/1995 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, code IE/CDA, 70cl)
Nose: Peaty with some sherried overtones. Chloride. G&M treatment?
Definitely an Islay malt, but not as overwhelming as some other Ardbegs.
It needs some warmth to reveal it's complexity. More peat and sour tones with water.
All in all this one didn't show as much development as I'd come to expect from older Ardbegs.
Taste: Characteristic delay in taste-development. Very, very peaty at first. Malty. Smoky.
Some Laphroaig saltiness, but more balanced. Long oaky aftertaste. Bitter finish.
Score: 87 points. (One of my very first Ardbegs - probably a tad over-rated)
 

Ardbeg 25yo 'Lord of the Isles' (46%, OB, bottled in 2001, first bottle in Holland, 70cl)
(A vatting of 15% sherry casks and 85% bourbon casks from 1974, '75 and '76)
Nose: Very rich, presenting a broad spectrum of fragrances. Good stuff!
Much more iodine than the other Ardbegs I've tasted - almost like Laphroaig.
Taste: Very smoky! With a few drops of water it opens up. Sherry and liquorice.
Strangely enough, this somehow 'feels' like a vatting. Slightly short on substance.
Score: 90 points. A very fine malt but not quite worth the extravagant asking price, IMHO.
 

Ardbeg 27yo 1973/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask, 70cl)
(240 bottles, distilled March 1973, bottled October 2000, probably bourbon cask)
Nose: Peat, peat, peat. Cow stable. Salt. A straight shooter, just the way I like it.
Chloride. It has a narrow 'spectrum' at first but grows deeper with time.
Some very faint early fruits in the background. Vegetables? Galvanised rubber - like new tires.
Taste: Salt and liquorice in the start, turning hot and bone dry quickly. Big peaty burn.
Then the amazing Ardbeg explosion - Peat. Serrano ham. Smoke. Lemon fruit sweets!
Growing drier and drier into an amazing long finish. It just doesn't stop for anything...
Score: 92 points. An everlasting finish that makes you go for an instant refill

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Unfortunately, the success didn't last forever.
In 1983, less than a century later, the distillery closed down. Don't worry, to the relief of peat lovers around the world production resumed in 1989. The unfanned maltings that gave pre-1989 distillates their unique 'espresso style' peatiness remained closed, though.

In 1990 the distillery joined Aliied distillers - but not for long. Glenmorangie bought Ardbeg in 1997. Purchase and restoration of the distillery required more than 10 million pounds but it turned out to be worth it. Helped by clever marketing and solid performance Ardbeg has made a major comeback.

Rightly so, if you ask me.
If I had to pick one single Islay distillery to supply me with my malts for the rest of my life it would probably be Ardbeg. The 'deluxe' bottlings have 'deluxe' price tags attached to them but that's no reason for concern. The 10yo and 17yo official bottlings are excellent and relatively modestly priced.

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