Ardbeg 1974 24 Year Old Cask #654 Signatory

Ardbeg 1974 24 Year Old Cask

• Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• Signatory

70cl / 51.3%

Thanks to /u/Marcovici for the sample! 500 reviews and I wanted to pick something special. And it doesn’t get much more special then 70’s Ardbeg. This was distilled in 1974 and aged for 23 years. A vatting of casks 1063 and 1065. Bottled in 1997 at cask strength, 51.2% ABV. Natural color and non chill-filtered.

Nose: Deep and rich. Brown sugar. Molasses. Apple pie. Cinnamon. Vanilla. Nutmeg. Sea salt. A bit of spice. Leather. Chocolate. Not much peat. Damn if I couldn’t just smell this all day.

Palate: Thick and oily mouthfeel. Sweet and rich and complex as all hell. Molasses. Brown sugar. Pain au chocolat. Christmas cake. Sea salt. Fresh unagi. Smoked salmon. Old leather. A bit of shoe polish. Ardbeg 1974 24 Year Old Cask #654 Signatory

Finish: Long finish. Evolves nicely. The peat finally makes its presence known. Smooth silky peat smoke. Brine. Eucalyptus. Just a bit of spice. Some menthol. Lingering cocoa.

Score: 95/100

Sweet jesus this is wonderful. Just mind blowing. Layers of flavor. And all wrapped around this core of sweet decadent brown sugar. Plenty of earthiness. Fantastic mouthfeel. And the chocolate notes that are present throughout the dram are just wonderful. I still think I preferred the 1980 Kildalton overall, but this is just incredible in its own right. God damn what I’d give to be able to drink whisky like this regularly. Such a treat!