The Ardbeg 17 comes in a very nice retro-classic jugendstyled port-like bottle. At $50 here in Holland, it's the cheapest Ardbeg I ever tasted, but not the best - That would be the '72. It has to be noted that the Ardbeg 1974 has been on my shelves for just over a year now, and the bottle is 3/4-empty. (or 1/4-full, but let's not get into that discussion right now...) This may have had an effect on the whisky inside the bottle.

The Nose: Ardbeg 17 gave away more "sourness" than the 1974, which appeared distinctly more peaty at first. After some breathing, the 17 developed a broad, almost speyside-like sweetness, the 1974 retained more of it's Islay character. And where the aroma's of the 1974 seemed to disappear into some hints of chloride after a while, the 17 kept exhaling an Macallan / Highland Park sweetness.

The Buds: The 17 has a very soft start for such an old Islay, but a wonderful gentle burn soon starts warming your mouth - it slowly dissolves into some bitterness. The taste of the '74 had the same characteristic delay in taste development, and arrived at the same bitterness in the end - Before that, the taste took some de-tours and managed to express some more nuances than the 17, however. The 17 seemed somewhat less balanced than the 1974's and 1972's I've tasted

The Watering Down: The 1974 livened up just a little bit with some water, but just a few drops caused a new explosion of aroma's in the 17 - some oilyness and impressions of vegetables? I seemed to smell a completely different malt. Wonderful surprise. Tastewise the 1974 responded a little bit better to the extra water than the 17, but the differences weren't that big. I would be very interested in a Cask Strength version of this malt.

The Preliminary Conclusion:  The two siblings seem very alike at some points, but also show a lot of unexpected differences.  Surprisingly enough - The 17 beats the 1974 in the nose department by more than a nose length. Can this be? Just to make sure I have got a retasting planned in a few weeks, with a second opinion by my brother. The 17 will have to wait for it's final rating until then.  It will supposedly end up in the 87-89 range, which means it's absolute Top 10 material.

I like the 17 a lot, If I have to characterize it at this point it would be 40% Bowmore, 30% Laphroaig and 30% Bunnahabhain. Except for Bruichladdich, perhaps, I love all the Islays. (I haven't seriously tasted a Port Ellen). And with every Islay I drink I like the "wildness" - The peat and the salt. But no malt succeeds in blending all the complex elements together into one sublime drink as Lagavulin does.

More Ardbegs H-to-H