Ardbeg Corryvreckan
It should be no secret to those who follow us at Scotchology that many of us are big Ardbeg fans, and have been since the beginning. We’ve explored nearly every main range offering, from the 10 year to the Uigeadail, along with several of their more limited offerings. The Ardbeg Corryvreckan is named after the famous whirlpool situated north of Islay, which legend says Viking prince Breacan entered as an act of bravery to prove his love for a princess. Legend says he’s now at the bottom of that whirlpool, so we leave it to you to determine his worthiness. In the meantime, this scotch requires you to prove nothing but a willingness to pour and sip.
Oban Little Bay
While Oban has been distilling for over two hundred years, their geographic restraints have kept them from growing into a truly giant place of production. For many years, their single malts were relegated to the 14 Year and Distillers Edition. Therefore it was a welcome surprise when they introduced a new No Age Statement offering to their lineup in 2015, the Oban Little Bay. The Scottish Gaelic name for the town, An t-Òban, means “little bay”. The single malt is blended in 200 liter ex-bourbon barrels, the smallest barrels available at the distillery. This was at one point their travel retail exclusive.
Connemara
One could be forgiven if you think this Irish whiskey is masquerading as a Scottish whisky. Only twice distilled, unlike the usual triple distillation of Irish malts, with the barley peated, Connemara is a relatively new whiskey that seems to hearken back to an Islay more than anything. It has done well, winning nearly a dozen competitive awards over the past decade. When the Irish whiskey industry was in full flower a century and more ago, though, there were some that incorporated peat smoked barley (the Scots never had the market cornered on using peat for a fuel source, after all) and it is not horribly unusual to find an Irish whiskey double distilled today, even if it is not the norm. Still, this Connemara expression out of Kilbeggan Distillery, which is owned by the Cooley Distillery, bears the imprint of John Teeling before he sold Cooley to Beam Suntory in 2014. There are cask strength and 12 year offerings available in the United States and other expressions elsewhere in the world.