Whiskey Review: Ardbeg Dark Cove (Committee Release)

Loads of very dry sherry without being overly sweet, salty on the front end, tobacco, fresh ground black pepper, hint of citrus. The finish has a very warm, almost hot burn shaped like a football (fatter in the middle and tapered on both ends), with very long lingering malt flavors and hints of toasted pumpkin seeds that were previously lost in the more robust flavors of smoke and sherry. Conclusion: Ardbeg’s inventive marketing seems to serve to stoke the passions of fans and detractors alike with each new release. All things considered, I tend to appreciate the brand’s efforts in breathing life into their label as it enters its third century, almost as much as I enjoy sampling the wide variations available on their central theme of heavily peated single malts. As an interesting aside, I found myself quickly drifting off to sleep on more than one occasion while sampling this whisky. The dram is far from boring, don’t get me wrong. Rather, Ardbeg Dark Cove read me a thrilling story before gently tucking me into bed. This is a full, intense, and robust whisky which is certainly not for everyone. But that should be apparent, given the name Ardbeg on the label. FINAL SCORE: 91/100