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Young, pimped with the appropriate (wine) barrel but also Ardbeg-like in this category, I personally like it a little better than the Smoketrails Manzanilla - 04.01.2024

A youthful Ardbeg. The Ardbeg Smoketrails Côte Rôtie Edition might be too youthful maybe.

The red wine influence is quite subtle. Nice Ardbeg sweetness on the nose. Slightly herbal. Delicious, relaxed, bacony-sweet finish. In between, but unfortunately a bit weak in the mouth.

Ardbeg Smoketrails Cote Rotie Edition Place of origin: Scotland Region: Islay Producer and bottler: Ardbeg Distillery (LVMH) Category: Single Malt Strength: 46% Volume: 1000 ml Market: Travel Retail Bottling date: 12.07.2023 Cask type: American Oak & Cote Rotie Red Wine Casks Batch number: FR/CR 2023/02-ST Min. exposure: not specified Cold filtration: not performed Dye: none In the nose, this release has a curious interweaving of signature Ardbeg notes of tar, pine oil, soot, sea salt, wool, citrus zest with tones of fire-roasted fruits (peaches, apples, pears, pineapples), berries (plums, cherries, cranberries, strawberries) and vegetables (sweet and spicy red bell peppers, artichokes, zucchini and even a little tomato) and all this in the facet of aromas of dark chocolate, peanut crumbs and refreshing menthol. Usually, we expect from aging in red wine barrels, first of all, berry and dried fruit notes, but in this case they are expressed less clearly than the phenolic and bright, non-trivial vegetable shades. But in the taste, the nuances of sour red berries are quite easy to read. Also in the taste there is a lot of smoke, burning, salt, citrus zest, shades of raw salted meat (like carpaccio), strong coffee, nuts and a little fruitiness. The notorious grilled pepper is also nowhere to be found. has not disappeared and actively participates in the formation of the taste. This release is felt much more full-bodied and less sweet (rather it is quite bitter) than its predecessor Smoketrails Manzanilla. The addition of water makes the drink slightly sweeter and less peppery, but simplifies and blurs the taste a little. The aftertaste is long. Burnt, carpaccio, nuts, coffee, red berries, menthol. Summary: Unconventional, like the Manzanilla Edition, with its oddities in the form of distinct shades of baked vegetables in the organoleptics, the release from Ardbeg, which, however, in its full-bodied, all-consuming heavy smokiness, carbonaceous taste and aroma, seems more suitable to the style of the distillery than its predecessor . Just as young and bold and in terms of performance level roughly corresponding to the 5-ke and 10-ke, but giving fans of the distillery's products an initial idea of how their distillate will behave in certain types of barrels. And as in the case of Manzanilla Edition (where I suggested a club sandwich with salmon as a flavor combination), for some reason, based on internal urges, I want to recommend such gastropubs as tartare, carpaccio, and fondue. Rating: 86 out of 100.

2025-03-20

"You can do better than this." "Why is this limited edition duty-free whisky of such high quality, when it's released as an official whisky like Corryvrechan and Ugerdail?" This whisky makes you want to ask. While the goal of a smooth, smooth finish without off-notes was somewhat successful, it leaves a strong impression among whisky aficionados as being too thin. The overall flavor and finish are far too thin. If this had been released as a custom whisky, it would have received higher marks for its rich flavor and layers.

Way too expensive ! Ardbeg and I have a difficult relationship. The Smoketrails is too cheesy for me. I usually complain about the smoke because it's too ashy. But here he is soothing,

The wine influences somewhat subdue the Ardbeg character. Spicy caramel and sour plums with red berries. Peat is there with coal tar, hickory oak, and meaty smoked ham. Peppery cask finish . The red wine cask does not in my view complement or add anything to the Ardbeg character in my view, and even detracts. My least favourite from the smoketrails series.

A very nice, well-balanced composition of the typical Ardbeg smoke and the sweet and fruity notes from the wine barrel.

Initial nosing had vegetal notes with some sea salt, and motor oil, had to dig to get very slight fruitiness like red berries. On the palate it is very thin and spiky, pronounced charred and spicy finish. Wanted to like this, but alas I didn’t.

I have a bottle of Earth whisky at home that I'm processing but I'm not going to finish it, it probably won't be the best way for me.

Ardbeg Smoketrails, a wine-aged drink for travel enthusiasts in Côte Rôtie, also left a mixed impression. It seems that the wine is noticeable, there are red berries, mint and menthol components, and even a little smoked meat. But in contrast to them, the aroma of sour wood and wet animal hair creeps in, which casts doubt on the previously listed advantages. The taste is quite good, adding wine tannins, mint tea and leather to the base profile. The aftertaste is also not long enough to impress.

Tasty, but not necessarily extremely special. A nice addition to a BBQ or as a finishing dram to the evening.

The thick smoke typical of Ardbeg, but with a certain sweetness. Iodine, sea spray, and some vinous notes, polished wood and caramel, light tannins. Warm chestnuts, stained with charcoal, chocolate cake, mahogany, cinnamon, and cloves. Marzipan. On the palate, some fruit, plums and grapes, but very quickly the herbaceous peat takes over, with peppery spices. Toasted hazelnuts, heather, rosemary. A fairly long but not quite explosive finish, caramel nuts, cola, fine charcoal, clumps of spongy peat, artichoke heart, ginger, dark and thick honey. Fuel oil bubbles. The wine barrels mainly bring sweetness and woody aromas, this softens the harshness of the Ardbeg profile without distorting it, so I am satisfied. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2025/10/ardbeg-smoketrails-cote-rotie-edition.html

Great mix of classic powerful Ardbeg and some classic red wines notes. Interesting experiment, maybe not the best Ardbeg I had but still decent dram!

More interesting than the previous release. The character of the barrel mentioned isn't very obvious. But it does the job in terms of price-performance ratio. Good. Price-performance ratio: Good, Medium-good. Would I buy it again?: Trying it was enough.

Nice

no good boring

It feels like the water from a red wine barrel, not very deep, and quite boring.

This new version of the Ardbeg smoketrail doesn't convince me either. Nicely put. Extremely young, sharp Ardbeg Spirit chased through a good wine barrel. The oily mouthfeel at the beginning is the best thing about it. Definitely not a bottle buying candidate.

I didn't expect this to be so good. I tend to love red wine cask finishes but never had a chance to try one associated with islay whisky. The nose is rich full of flavours: campfire smoke vanilla rapsberry blackberry dried cranberry dried corinthian raisins dried apricot marzipan almond paste turrón wheat biscuits old chimney ash cotton candy hazelnut. An explosion of flavours. The palate is just as pleasant: round, thick, lots of red fruit and dried fruits, smoke campfire old chimney dying fire ash light tannins rapsberry blackberry banana flambée white pepper, . The finish is long thick and exquisite with both old chimney ash scent and lasting red wine red fruit sweetness and sweet pepper m, black fruits back notes found in Crozes-Hermitage wine. Some say it lacks complexity or feels young. I really don't agree about the complexity. I'm a red wine nerd and i suspect that my palate is more trained to pick up red wine influence and more detailed tasting notes. As a result this Cotes-Rôtie "speaks" to me and i find layers upon layers of taste. It does feel young however, probably about 7-ish but for peated whiskies it's never been a problem so i don't think it matters. For me personally it's outstanding. Granted the original Ardberg medicinal taste is MIA but there's just something about it. As a point of reference other whiskies i like are Port Charlotte PC10, Longrow Peated, Kornog Peated PX, Craigellachie 17 and Scarabus Islay...

Dear Ardbeg, what have you been up to lately? This one was so tame... If you're looking for Ardbeg punch, you better leave this one.

Peaty/Medical (Seirogan), Smokey, Tropical Fruit, Coastal, Coal, Charred Wood, Chocolate.

I'm not sure if the character of Ardbeg fits the wine finish. To me it seems like a rather complex combination of the Ardbeg style of heavy earthiness, citrus, smoke, iodine and ash with a winey sweetness, maybe honey and red berries... Bitter woodiness on the finish.

Feels like younger Ardbeg Ten that has been slightly tuned up with wine barrels. Is it worth the extra price - well not for me I guess. It is balanced and well put together but youthfulness shows up every now and then.

A wee beastie at a higher price. You can spot some wine influence but not necessarily a good one. The Manzanilla Edition was better, in the acceptable/quaffable range. Maybe due to some older casks. I was benefiting on an offer so I decided to go for it. I am glad I only bought one. The 61 Euro tag is too much for what you get. For this amount there are better bottles on the market. Peat, smokiness, medium-short after-taste. Laphroaig Quarter Cask is miles better, just to compare 2 peaty NAS OB editions.

Smell : Smoky, Fruity, Peaty, Salty, Earthy Taste : Chocolate Fountain with Strawberry & Cranberry, Salted Caramel Cake, Crispy Bacon, Mints, Peppers End: Tar, Cigar, Peat

A typical Ardbeg. The only special thing for me is that this dram tastes of significantly more than 46%.

I think the whisky is around 5 years old. He reminds me a lot of the wee beastie but from a wine barrel. I do think that the wine barrel suppresses the whisky a bit. Especially if you drink it side2side with the manzanilla edition. Stuck at 85 for a long time, but that's why I ended up with 84 points.

As in previous bottlings from Ardbeg, the maturation cask is only discreetly noticeable in the background, with the Ardbeg DNA dominating both the nose and the tongue. As an Ardneg fan, I take note of this fact positively, but as a fan of bottlings with a red wine finish, this release will probably not be a revelation.