93 The Whisky Advocate

Employing both bourbon and European oak sherry casks, the aromas show an array of spices, red berries, cherry, fresh strawberry, honey, grist, malted milk, and oak shavings, with hints of grapefruit and watermelon. Smooth and deliciously creamy, the palate arcs through notes of honey, candied lemon, caramel, green apple, and granola, followed by pear, spiced toffee, and gingerbread, with a fabulously spicy conclusion of cinnamon and crispy ginger wafers.

97 Wine Enthusiast

This offers rich caramel, hazelnut and cocoa aromas on the nose. The palate echoes those luscious flavors, but also layers walnut, cocoa powder and hints of orange and grapefruit peel, while allspice warms the finish. Aged first in Barbados, then in ex-Cognac casks at the Ferrand estate in France.

95 Tastings.com (Beverage Testing Institute)

Copper color. Aromas and flavors of frosted fruit nut cake, frosted cardamom coffee cake, and sarsaparilla float with a satiny, bright, fruity medium-to-full body and a warming, nuanced, very long finish with notes of vanilla meringue, macadamia gelato, and sweet spices. A wonderfully flavorful and inviting aged Rum that is a pleasure to sip and savor.

90 Tastings.com (Beverage Testing Institute)

Pale golden color. Aromas of honeycomb, lychee, potpourri and fig bread. Round and supple with a fruity-yet-dry medium-to-full body. Creamy nougat, spice, and ginger notes cascade on the long peppery, tingling finish. Great vibrancy. International Review of Spirits Award: Gold Medal

93 Malt Advocate

Straw-gold color. On the nose, sweet toffee, citrus notes, seaweed, and spice complement a powerful peat smoke infusion. In body, it is thick and oily. On the palate, a somewhat sweet maltiness up front is run over by a powerful peat smoke locomotive. Again, the whisky is enriched with citrus and pear notes, spice, and seaweed. The finish is powerful, long, and warming. The smoke lingers for minutes, if not hours. If you like your Ardbeg to go to a phenolic extreme, you will cherish this one. This big, powerful whisky makes no apologies for its Islay roots. And the fact that this whisky is bottled at 46% ABV just makes this big whisky even bigger.

93 The Whisky Advocate

A whisky so aromatic that peat lovers will likely smell an open bottle within 10 miles. On the nose there are kiwi, pine needles, fennel seeds, hot asphalt, lemon lozenges, iodine, peppery herbal notes, and briny aromas. Sweet and smoky with intense spicy heat on the palate, there’s honey, lemon, shortbread, and maltiness, though water yields sweeter citrus flavors, candied lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee, and molasses, with a finish of butterscotch, menthol, eucalyptus, and salty seaweed. Darn good.

5 The Whiskey Wash

This whiskey is a hit. I often doubt myself regarding the whiskeys that I like. A creeping thought which tells me I only like super sweet, non-complex, bourbon whiskey and I can’t appreciate complex, non-sweet whiskey. This whiskey quiets that part of my brain. This is a sharp, semi-sweet whiskey with a terrific profile and wonderful complexity. ----- This whiskey does a lot of things right and puts a great deal of talent on display. It may not be for every drinker, but it really hit the mark for me.