New Release: Ardbeg Official 'Kelpie' 2017 Special Committee Edition 51.7%

This year's release presented a relatively orthodox young Ardbeg aroma. Ardbeg ARDBEG OB 'KELPIE' 2017 SPECIAL COMMITTEE ONLY EDITION 51.7% The nose features citrus and youthful malt, fresh oak and herbs, nuts, with a cool, seaweed-like smokiness and a touch of metallic character. On the palate, it's spicy with a slow-burning heat, youthful malt, rich oak and nuts, gradually intensifying sweetness, acidity, and saltiness, a sharp metallic note, fishy smoke, peat, and a long finish. [Good/Very Good] As an annual limited release from Ardbeg, this year's bottling was named 'Kelpie'. It appears that the casks were matured using virgin oak from the Black Sea (Adygea Republic) in addition to bourbon casks. Following the usual pattern, a white-label cask-strength version for the committee would typically be released first, with a black-label diluted version appearing around the time of the Islay Festival. However, it remains to be seen if this pattern continues this year. Regarding the core content, while the maltiness carries a youthful character in both aroma and flavor, it is somewhat masked by the fresh oak notes. The cool metallic and smoky characteristics were strongly present, which is typical of Ardbeg. Virgin oak often brings strong woody or astringent notes, which I personally find somewhat challenging. However, this Kelpie had a good oak character without any unpleasant bitterness. This might be due to Dr. Bill Lumsden's cask management techniques, honed at Morenji, which likely involved careful sun-drying to eliminate such elements. While I would have liked to let it age a bit more to fully integrate the cask and spirit, this young Ardbeg was still enjoyable.