🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Typical and good Ardbeg, sweet smoke, pretty strong and rich of flavours besides the peat. Nice one.

Tasted at Whisky in Leiden 2017 nice combination of some deep sweetness and peat. Good long finish

[March, 2017]  Why not compare this release against its predecessor Perpetuum (WB id 68370) and successor Kelpie (WB id 86163)? I never ever thought (when Perpetuum was released) that Perpetuum will win against its successors as I (like many others) had the impression this was the weakest Ardbeg Day edition so far. But now I must confess: This was the best (to my liking) in three years. Oh, oh Ardbeg - where are you heading to...

‘Blind Islay fury’ was a blind tasting organised by Whiskylounge. We started here: WB N: Toffee fruit sugars - cognac cask? Sugar cane, molasses - Rum cask? It's farmy and vegetal with a sweet, sugary smokiness, a sweet BBQ meat marinade [sticky ribs with hoisin sauce], balanced against notes of Tipp-ex, putty and grout. Good nose. T:  Here’s another big Islay whisky where the smoke is not obtrusive, starting sweet before moving straight to vegetal. The development spins all around the flavour wheel with notes of putty, deep old sherry char and sweet plasticine,... F: ...sweet vegetal and smokey cognac. Lots of types of smoke here, from the maltings to the heavy cask charring. It doesn’t evolve exactly, it’s more about those numerous revolutions around the flavour wheel. C: Doesn’t stop spinning. I like it, it’s a fun one and a good one. I feel i’ve had it before but i can’t put a name to it, but the chemist amongst us nails it! A free dram to him and on to number 4 WB. Scores a B

1599) Ardbeg, Dark Cove, The Ultimate, Ardbeg Day 2016

A total Schlabberwhisky, I practically breathed it in at that time during the Ardbeg Barbecues, it was so easy to drink and still is. Of course, due to the lack of barrel strength, he doesn't quite make it against the Committee Release. But he doesn't have to hide.

Powerful, peaty, smoke, salt, notes of fruit, ash. 21.5-22-21.5-22

In fact a dark chapter in the history of Ardbeg.

Part of the Weird & the Woderful flight tasting at Ardbeg Distillery. Maybe the less good one. After a rich sweet nose, it turned quite weak. Very similar to normal bottling.

- contrary to some opinions, I find the DARK COVE a very successful special bottling, - a very complex smell, really awesome! - taste maybe a bit "thin" but not annoying for me, but rather very pleasant and very tasty - significantly better than, for example, an AN OA with comparable barrels - from the aroma it goes in the direction of Lagavulin Dest. Ed. (I tested in 1997/2013)

Did he like me at the Ardbeg Night at the first moment very well, he is in the set setting in direct comparison to the committee version a bitter disappointment. The nose is still the most similar, in the mouth separate the two worlds. Nevertheless, he likes me better than last year's Perpetuum, the direction seems to be correct in principle, only the dilution concept should be considered here! Here's the committee bottling: https://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/79815/ardbeg-dark-cove

A pleasant, pleasant to drink Ardbeg. The sherry flavors suit him well. For about € 95.00 (2016) not super cheap but ok [Color] full gold;

I am little bit disappointed, although this is still very good whisky.

Phew, the sherry is rather pale here and there is little else that is memorable. For the full review, go here: https://halbendrinks.de/2022/02/06/ardbeg-feis-ile/

It was surprisingly good, I already expected a weak likeness of Guess at twice the price, but here is a very nice, fantastically spicy, soft and friendly mole (fortress, of course, does not please, but the feeling that the increase would not have helped much); not guessing, but it's going the right way, to the price tag, though the claims remain (yes, blah, twice as expensive), so if you already have a couple of bottles in the closet I guessed, but there is an extra hundred euros and a burning desire give it back LVMH, welcome.

The issue price when it was released was EUR 97

If I were to smell it blind I probably wouldn't be able to tell it apart from something like Laphroaig Cask Favorite PX Finish! 21.5 22.5 23 21

beautiful balanced Ardbeg. Wonderful combination of smoke and sherry, the smoke is perfectly integrated.

He really impressed me back then at the distillery.

I love the balanced combination of ashy Islay smoke with intense sherry tones. That's why I often favor Bowmore, but I also liked the Lagavulin Distillers Editions (in the past more). This Ardbeg also beats into this Krebe. In "drinking strength" my favorite among Ardbeg's bottlings. The nose offers a lot, and usually a lot of it. Besides classic Ardbeg flavors like ash, smoke (slightly less than usual) and citrus, I find more fruity and herbal flavors here. I therefore (also) accept PX and/or Fino Sherry casks when choosing casks. It's worth giving some time. Admittedly, a few horsepower are missing in the mouth if you take the CR bottlings or an Ardbog as a benchmark. But that was it with the criticism. The lemony smoke and burnt pineapple complement each other with dried fruit, herbs, light tannins and a pleasant sweetness. The finish is ashy-sweet, suffers somewhat from too little abv, but is still sufficiently present. Overall extremely tasty. But requires larger sips rather than droplets or sips.

For me the worst Ardbeg I've ever tried, very artificial. Particularly the 'aspartame sweetness' in the finish. Like if they lost inspiration and contrived several barrels together until it was somekind of 'doable'. In my opinion it's very overrated and may not even stand next to the Corryvreckan or the Uigeadail. A six-and a half

It comes dark and exudes its beguiling Ardbeg BBQ smell as soon as you pour it. Immediately chocolaty on the nose. A real chocolate bomb. Smells very tasty. Set sherry. pipe smoke. dark fruit Great nose. Pure chocolate on the tongue. Wow! The chocolate is very dark and bitter. In the direction of chocolate-coated espresso beans. Clearly bitter. Seasoning on tap. Freshly roasted espresso beans. Long finish. warm smoke. And always the dark chocolate. Great. Super bottling. Maybe the best special release of the last few years. Now a few more turns (like the Committee version) and it cracks the 90p.

We are going deep into Whisky Lake 2.0 today, maybe all the way to the bottom in more than one way, so I best put on my atmospheric diving suit. The exact depth is 15 Ardbeg limited releases in one go, with a current 10yo (83 pts.) as the benchmark. Yes, I have written my last will and testament. The lineup from the newest to the oldest bottling is: Smokiverse (81), Spectacular (82), Heavy Vapours (77), Ardcore (76), Scorch (83), Blaaaack (81), Drum (79), Grooves (80), Kelpie (83), Dark Cove (84), Perpetuum (80), Auriverdes (83), Ardbog (87), Galileo (85), Alligator (88). Compared to my previous scores for the bottles I've already tasted, only Auriverdes felt a bit better this time than the first time I tried it many, many years ago. Unsurprisingly, both myself and the tasting panel voted Alligator, Ardbog, and Galileo as the best three. For me the bottom of the barrel was Ardcore with its offensive blandness and youth, but the whole tasting panel voted it the 2nd worst in the lineup, disliking Heavy Vapours even more. Thanks for the tasting, Maija & Pete! Compared to when I tried it before, Dark Cove earns an extra point or two. Still, those points mostly come from the nose which after nosing all the later Limited Editions finally offers some traditional sherry notes like dark chocolate and dried fruit. Unfortunately there's not enough sherry casks in the vatting, since the taste has only half of the sherry promised by the nose. This could have been good but as it is it's merely a promise of good things, mostly unfulfilled.

Sample from DarrenHJA

One of the most beautiful Committee releases.

This is the darkest Ardbeg to date! With a color of golden potstills in the moonlight. On the nose dark tones of dark chocolate, toffee and distant bonfires. http://www.whisky-amsterdam.nl/product/ardbeg-dark-cove/

nice combination of peat and sweet. Peat, some minerals, some ashes, sweet sherry, some citrus. Quite some nice Ardbeg, but there is something nagging ... it is fine Whisky but why all the fuss about it? Fine dram, nothing more

below average Ardbeg. Just skip it and you won't miss anything.

An Ardbeg with surprise effect. He is not as "dark" as expected but rather silky and supple with intense aromas and unmistakable finish. The Sherry Casks are more in the background and give him the necessary balance Balance - 25.03.2017

2017-05-13: Delicate and multifaceted, at the same time, aroma. A little harsh in taste and aftertaste, a small disadvantage for me was the hospital-herbal bitterness. In general, not bad.

I do not particularly like the standard Ardbegs (10, Uggy, Corry), finding them too ashy, too citric, and too unbalanced. I quite enjoyed Ardbeg 30 year old and this is the closest to it in profile, though not nearly as sophisticated and well integrated. A great dram overall.

Each flavor is very good when picked out individually, but upon careful tasting, the flavors are not well integrated; in my scoring system, the best I can give it is 86. There is a little violet in the nose and finish, I don't know if it's because of the sample or the wine itself, it's quite interesting. Modern Ardbeg is not my style, too dirty and too heavy, but this violet reminds me of 2024 Feis Ile, which is quite similar.

ok

Balance (22) Good Young Ardbeg (88)

Very balanced and tasty molt, atypical ardbeg, really liked

It is of medium viscosity and its bouquet is of relatively strong intensity. I have aromas of sweet peat smoke, raisin syrup, nuts and nautical notes. Not very complex. Relatively sweet in taste. The alcohol is well integrated and he has a medium body.

This is kind of a thin Ardbeg Uigeadail expression, but quite young in age. You don't get the bacon maritime fish mouth feeling. Concerning price/performance ratio: 6/10

Conclusion: 88/100 points - "dangerously tasty". The Ardbeg-Day 2016 brought us a 46.5% diluted, flavored version of the Dark Cove (Compared to the Commmitee release). You get here a dangerous tasty, mild and unfortunately quite characterless Ardbeg with NAS at an ambitious price. The supposedly "darkest Ardbeg of all time" is unfortunately in vain. Bad is the Dark Cove not by far, but there is not much to discover and it lacks the rough nature of the sea. Personally, I like him a lot and find him much better than the perpetual, but I prefer a Uigeadail, because he has more Wums and character. Link to the tasting on my blog: http://www.tasting-notes.de/Archive/537

better buy Uigedal; less money, same - if not better - quality

I like this Ardbeg Day bottling better than the last two years. The selection of kegs did the aroma very well. However, even this bottling is still too ironed for my taste.

Whisky'n More 2017 => 87/100

Great Ardbeg, intense smoke with a subtle fruitiness.

The maturation in heavily seasoned sherry casks gives Dark Cove an inviting sweetness alongside dark chocolate and Ardbeg’s signature peat smoke. On the palate, glazed ham, grilled artichoke and smoky bacon take centre stage, while sweet smoke intertwines with herbal notes and smoked tea leaves. Interestingly, I found very little of the medicinal character often associated with Ardbeg. The finish is long and warming, with lingering herbs, tarry rope and crackling peat smoke.

Delicate black liquorice and chocolate smoke. A real delight.

The nose is deceptively young and tangy like tequila. On the palate, this one opens up nicely to offer a complex experience. Still, younger than I would have preferred. I miss the Alligator. It was spectacular. I also like Ardbeg Day more than this one. But still, worth picking up a bottle for sure if you favor Ardbeg's lovely rich and malty peaty character.

Nose: Fairly deep notes of smoke, slightly sweetish. Taste: Linear flavor with fairly distinct smoke. Poorly complex. The unit smoke level for each approach. Slightly acidic. Rating: 85 | 100 - Smoke finish quite powerful smoke load. Generally, the item does not differ in any way from the core range bottles of this distillery and the price is higher

Nose: medicinal peaty, sherry notes Pallet: very soft salty and peated and sweet Finish: getting more peaty in the finish

Nose: dark chocolate dry sweetness, candied sugar, salty, hint of roses. Hint of smoke lurking in the background. Taste: light peat, salty and complex, again dry sweetness, astringent, ever so slightly minty, faint green herbs. Complex and well integrated malt, in my opinion one of the better versions of Ardbeg. Go get if you can!

*This review was originally written in Korean and translated through ChatGPT. There may be translation errors.*

Room temperature when tasting: 25℃ Eyes: Orange and smell of fragrance. Nose: The smoke is lighter than I thought, and it is very comfortable, with ash, iodophor, and dried sea fish. Some sticky cream, dried cranberries, red jam, smell and other Abbey I have drunk appeared in the back. It was light, not complicated enough, and not many layers. If I locate it in the brainless peat sweet water, I think it is already Full marks, but if you want to reproduce Abbe's glorious years, it is obviously far from enough. Taste Palate: no bitter bottom, peat sweet water, a little cranberry jam, strawberry fudge, plant ash, waves and rocks, sprinkled with raw scallops of crushed pepper, to bring out some delicious juice. Final rhyme Finish: long, a little sweet, sea salt, smoked salmon, seaweed body: light and watery, very low oil content, is this Abbe's body? Nose: 85/100 Palate: 85/100 Finish: 85/100 Body: 80/100 Overall: 84/100 Overall: Smell the fragrance is really true, it is indeed a little sweet water of brainless peat, probably the way it looks after dilution in Uganda. It's delicious, but it's too flattering.

Love it! Finally some Ardbeg to enjoy, with character and a long finish. Sure it´s NAS and the price is hefty but from the last Ardeg Days it is imho the best byfar since the Aligator

Uigedal or Corryvreckan are in fact better and much cheaper, which makes both the one and the other much better off. What could have been the name for a fine sherry bottling, instead of just that ... Just a shame, but typical LVMH Finster hits it all in all but definitely, scowling especially when you consider that good sherry casks cost quite a bit of money, but you can pay very well for these editions (and here too). Incidentally, I also know a good two dozen Ardbeg bottlings, which were significantly darker and considerably better!

Maybe not the darkest Arbeg ever, but this is great, better than I remember when I open the bottle. It's quite different from the typical Ardbeg profile, this ain't a peat and smoke bomb, this is elegant and refined, very well balance. And love the earthy note! Get a bottle if you can!

Unfortunately for my taste the weaker Ardbeg I tried! :(

A sweet and savoury Ardbeg. Easy drinkable and definetly a nice dram. As an addition to the core range it would be much apreciated. Overpriced, like all special Ardbeg releases these days. Also the superlative marketing "..darkest ardbeg ever.." bullshit does not fit Ardbegs reputation and is just childish and kinda embarrasing to be honest. In my opinion, sometimes less is more....

The annual Ardbeg Limited Committee releases are so different, In my opinion there are very very good one and also not so good one especially for the price that is taken for them. But the Dark Cove is one of the best of them. Beautifully perfect whisky.

A few% more would probably be a profit.

Peat dominated nose with underlying sweet wood spices. The attack, still peat upfront, is pleasant and balanced but the palate proved quite thin and a tad sweet giving way to the alcohol bringing it out of balance and dominating a rather short and simple finish.

for full review go to https://whiskyfacile.com/2016/06/03/ardbeg-dark-cove-2016-ob-465/

What a rich and intense dram. Definitely An Oa on steroids, really good. Probably one of the best limited editions from Ardbeg in recent years. Delicious sherry notes, a subtle saltiness, all combined with the typical Ardbeg sweetness, great.

Nose and palate take different paths. The nose is not bad and at least partially retains the character that can be expected from an Ardbeg. The palate, on the other hand, is excessively sweet and fragile, despite the gradation similar to 10.

Smell the fragrance: I am looking forward to Heiwan because the moment he pours it into the glass, Heiwan has let the iodine and dried plum treasure scent in the air, as if walking into a smoking cave and meeting in the cave. Discovered some mud, and the firewood pile that was just extinguished, the harbor under the dark night is mysterious and charming, Tasting: The alcohol feel is just right, the wine is lively and jumping, the balance of sweetness and charred aroma, like the sugar-fried chestnuts from the night market vendors and the accidentally roasted honey chicken wings, and the sherry and peat in the end rhyme collide Among them, there seems to be endless possibilities, caramelized melon seeds, kerosene, dark chocolate, cuttlefish noodles, dead leaves, ashes, gradually far away... Summary: Black Bay 2017 Member Edition is recognized as the best Abbe's annual limited wine in recent years. It is matured in EX bourbon barrels and "Dark Shirley barrels". Both peat and Shirley mutate here, and many are derived. The indescribable fine flavour, the original imprint of the winery is also difficult to find, but the only constant is the high standard of balance. As for the sense of pleasure, different people have different opinions. My score is not very high. (This is an old note in my notebook, using the old scoring system. Although this will result in a high score, I still want to show this score.)

The big secret about his dark color: For the Ardbeg Dark Cove barrels were used, which previously contained a particularly dark sherry-type. For its production, the grapes are not only dried and pressed, but also heated. This further lowers the water content, making the result even sweeter, even darker than the classic PX sherry. "Dark Sherry", the barrel supplier has called this variety, which is hardly produced today due to its complex manufacturing process. In the past, however, the "Dark Sherry" was widespread. And so is the "Dark Cove" (meaning: dark bay) not only represent a snapshot of the darkest sherry casks of the distillery, but also reflect the sherry aromas from a bygone era.

Nose: Typical Ardbeg - the smoke dominates and other flavors have a hard time developing at the beginning, whereby I perceive the dark cove softer in the smoke than the standards. I give the dram a few minutes and then smell again. Now the cold ash comes and the peat smoke has a slightly medicinal effect with a little seaweed. Now it is sweeter and honey and dried fruit appear, also vanilla and citrus notes are there. Out the back, the rather complex drop becomes flowery and spicy. • Taste: The smoke appears a little milder in my mouth. Now you can taste the sherry ripening with dried raisins and plums as well as the dark chocolate and coffee notes. Overall very creamy even if the dram is now a bit tart (but not bitter). The NAS is even more exciting due to the fine spiciness with a slight pepper sharpness. • Outlet: Medium to long with intense smoke and a little sweetness.

A nice alternative to the rather small portfolio of Ardbeg, but priced too expensive in my opinion.

You can find our review at http://www.whiskybros.com/#!Ardbeg-Dark-Cove-465/c21kp/574a8f800cf2b585410fed30

Colour: Dark Gold Body: Medium/Full Nose: Lovely Sherry and fresh zesty lime, lemon, musty wool, blood orange Taste: Intense, creamy medicinal, cough sweets, lime juice, lime pith, lemon, creamy oak, orange. Great balance. Finish: Long length. Creamy, medicinal, earthy peat. Notes: It's Ardbeg, of course it's great. Maybe I should have kept my Commitee Release, I'll have to open my 33.132 before I decide if it was worth it. 80/100

Maybe not the darkest Arbeg ever, but this is great, better than I remember when I open the bottle. It's quite different from the typical Ardbeg profile, this ain't a peat and smoke bomb, this is elegant and refined, very well balance. And love the earthy note! Get a bottle if you can! (I REALLY LIKED THIS DESCRIPTION FROM THE GUY 2 DOWN) good daily sipper for me, I have 4 because I liked it so much.

Nose Ash, seaweed and peat backed by sherried sweet fruits; bananas, apricots and peaches. Very medicinal and saline. Underneath all that there’s a creaminess with vanilla and custard and some citrus. Very nice. 22/25 Palate Again ashy, lots of smoke and honey everywhere coating the mouth. Very nice texture and arrival. Not very sherried on the palate and not as much fruit although bananas are definitely there for me. On the third pass the apricots come out as well and there’s tons of fresh vanilla beans there as well. Nice and round and a pleasure to chew on. 22/25 Finish Very strong on the ash, it’s a long finish that reminds me of my days as a smoker. There’s a residual honey sweetness that give you something to chew on for a bit but not much else. 20/25 Value and presentation These Ardbeg day NAS products offer a poor value, with an original price of 230$ CAD and a now inflated secondary price markup... there’s just no way this whisky competes in this price range. For perspective, the same shop that sold it for 230$ sells Glendronach 21 for 203$...The presentation is mostly good, it’s being billed as the darkest Ardbeg yet and I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they’re smart enough not to add E150 to the whisky after saying that (wink wink, Bowmore) but I do wish that information was on the packaging, same with chillfiltration, I had to confirm online that there wasn’t any. The 46.5% abv is great and goes a long way towards giving us the nice mouthfeel present here. Overall I think this is a great whisky that’s bogged down by an absurd price point. 20/25 Total score 84/100

Ardbeg Dark Cove Tasted 2016-08-05 @ Whisky InTeam Spaden: N wohilger smoke, warm oats, G juicy saffron cream, dry campfire really one of the better of the special bottlings 88

Intense fruit and tobacco.

Great Stuff... definetely better than the perpetuum. Get's better dram by dram and wins by adding a few drops of water. very long and dry finish! love it!

Not very multifaceted, but beautiful fragrance.

Solid and rich meaty dram. Tasting bottle available at www.chameleonwhisky.com

Very complex, clear cask profile. Smoke with quite a hit, but still warm and round. Taste of some Dark berries, sherry profile. Truly recommended????

A good whisky without ever being great, and current prices make it an easy pass, however at original retail interesting enough to purchase if lucky enough to stumble upon. Certainly different from typical Ardbegs the biggest fault I can say is a lack of cohesion between elements, the fruit and peat fight rather than work in harmony, and the finish has a really strong liquorice bite. It is interesting, but there are many a better Ardbeg in this world.