Ardbeg

Ardbeg Scorch

Ardbeg Scorch

Ardbeg is a distillery that loves its marketing. This is not a slight against the distillery, just a fact of the marketplace. But Ardbeg likes to have fun with their one-off yearly committee releases. No two are alike and they are not afraid to embrace a story. Even if it involves flavor dragons and terrible puns. The Ardbeg Scorch is their 2021 committee release and the box is bedecked with artful flavor dragons breathing, presumably, flavor fire. The Scorch in the name derives from the heavy char Ardbeg gave to the barrels this scotch matured in for an undisclosed period of time. Whether you embrace the fanciful story or not, however, the flavor abides.

Ardbeg Blaaack

Ardbeg Blaaack

2020 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Ardbeg Committee, a fan club of Ardbeg enthusiasts and a way for the distillery to stay in touch with fans of the brand. Every year in the spring, the distillery will release a special Committee Release. While available to non-Committee buyers, members hear about the upcoming whisky first and sometimes have a chance to buy it before retail. The 2020 Committee Release is the Ardbeg Blaaack. The name references a black sheep, depicted on the cover amidst a sea of white sheep. The sheep are there because the whisky was matured in ex-pinot noir casks from New Zealand, another island nation known for having an extremely high number of sheep.

Scotchology: Year Eight

Scotchology: Year Eight

Every two years on the anniversary of Scotchology’s beginning, we have given a biennial update to review what we’ve been up to, reflect on what’s come before and muse about what might be coming. We list some social media stats and note how our reviews and other articles are coming. After a few years of consistency, the past two years have seen more change within the group – much like the rest of the world – than we had ever imagined. How does a small, informal social scotch club hold on when the ability to gather safely together is seemingly taken away?