New Release: Ardbeg Official Kildalton Distillery Limited Edition

This Kildalton is different from the previous one. Ardbeg ARDBEG OB KILDALTON DISTILLERY LIMITED 46% The aroma features nuts, mild citrus, saltiness, raw peated malt, bread dough, smoked seafood, a soft mouthfeel beyond its alcohol strength, citrus, a clean syrupy sweetness with acidity, a gentle cold metallic note, dry grains, smoky peat, nuts, and a long oily finish. [Good/Very Good] This Kildalton is currently available as a limited edition from the Ardbeg Distillery. When thinking of Kildalton, there was a non-peated and light peated Ardbeg bottled under the Kildalton name just before temporary closure. To my knowledge, there are two examples: one from the 1980 vintage and another from the 1981 vintage (one of four small bottles). Both were cask strength. Although there is a question about whether Ardbeg was operational in 1981, I'll set that aside. This release is a non-vintage watered-down version. While tasting, I thought it might be a light peated type based on past releases, but the peat aroma from the beginning reminded me of smoked seafood. There's a youthful rawness with nuances of peated malt, bread dough, and young grain notes, along with the characteristic Ardbeg saltiness. Upon drinking, it has a very soft mouthfeel with refreshing citrus, smoky peat, nuts, and a strong presence of cool saltiness and metallic notes. The sweetness is clean with acidity, but it's not a light-bodied whisky; the finish was unexpectedly long and oily. I had recently tasted the 1980 vintage Kildalton, and I also had the opportunity to taste this newly introduced Kildalton. I had one bottle of the 1981 vintage Kildalton at home, and thinking 'if I'm going to open it, now is the time!' I decided to open it as well. I plan to cover those bottles in a future article. Actually, recently I had the chance to drink the 1980 vintage Kildalton, and I also tasted this newly introduced Kildalton. #Ardbeg (ARDBEG)