Ardbeg Auriverdes Islay Single Malt Whisky

The annual event of Ardbeg Day is a great day out, with much fanfare and whisky drinking. When possible, we visit Dullstroom for this event. During our 2014 visit, John managed to taste the Ardbeg Auriverdes Islay single malt Scotch whisky, but I have not had a formal “Whisky of the Week” tasting for this release.

When this dram came up for tasting, we decided to invite a whisky friend around. Paul joined us this past Friday to share in the exploration of this limited release whisky. Ardbeg released the Auriverdes bottling for Ardbeg Day 2014.

The name Auriverdes has Portuguese connections and loosely translates as ‘auri’ (to shine like gold) ‘verdes’ (Green). It refers to the golden whisky and the iconic Ardbeg green bottle. Gold and green are also the colours of the Brazilian flag. As it was the World Cup soccer in Brazil, the Ardbeg Day theme for this year was sport.

Ardbeg Auriverdes is released without an age statement. It was distilled in 2002 and matured in traditional second fill American oak casks.

However, the traditional casks had their cask heads removed and replaced with new American oak cask heads. According to some research, the one cask head was toasted lightly (to bring out some vanilla flavours) and the other one darker (to bring out some mocha flavours).

These re-worked barrels were then filled with spirit and left to mature. The final release was a combination of these barrels blended with a proportion of ‘classic’ Ardbeg.

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Ardbeg Auriverdes Islay Whisky Review

REGION: Islay

ABV: 49.9%.

COLOUR: A rich gold

NOSE: Sweet, balanced with peppery notes. The sweetness is reminiscent of honey-dipped fruit and toffee. There are hints of vanilla and citrus fruits. In the background, a subtle trace of traditional Ardbeg smoke lingers. It is not a typical ‘full in your face peat’ Ardbeg.  Surprisingly, very little peat comes through.

PALATE: Without water, is smooth with muscovado sugar, soft fruit, hints of pepper, gentle smoke and bits of toasted oak. Adding water releases more of the traditional Ardbeg character with more ash and understated bits of coal tar. All very restrained. The vanilla and the citrus fruit comes through balancing the peppery notes.

FINISH: Medium length and end in notes of ash, zest and pepper.

RATING: EXCELLENT

Not your usual Ardbeg! There is none of the peat, salt and medicinal notes that Ardbeg is renowned for.  Ardbeg purists might not like this release. It is certainly a different direction for Ardbeg. But, I love it. I will certainly grab another bottle if I manage to see it around. It is worth it.

Auriverdes reminds me a bit of the Laphroaig PX whisky I tasted last year. It is a softer and smoother version of the PX cask. Just delicious! It is only the length of the finish that stopped this Ardbeg from being rated higher. A divine Ardbeg Day release that I recently tried is the Ardbeg Scorch.

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