Since the beginning of our whisky journey, we always considered Ardbeg 10yo to be peppery and heavy on the peat. The Uigeadail was always our go to, so we haven’t paid a lot of attention to the Ten. What a shame, because looking back, we clearly missed out.

After visiting Islay, I fell in love again with Ardbeg. Especially after tasting the Kelpie, which was full of tropical fruits. Pretty much right after arriving back home (with two bottles of Kelpie), I bought the 10yo and guess what: it wasn’t that harsh peppery young spirit that we always thought it was. In fact, it’s very gentle and fruity, the peat plays no overly active role here. And to make it even better: I’ve now replaced the Uigeadail with the Ten as my Ardbeg-staple.

Why haven’t I never really paid attention to the Ten? Because I was a fool, of course. But thinking about it, I think it was the packaging and marketing that looked intimidating when we were young and naive. It was also because Uigeadail was one of my first peated whiskies that I really loved, which is bottled at cask strength. I thought it was a huge step forward from the Ten.

But times have changed. To be honest, for me personally The Uigeadail isn’t what it used to be anymore. And value for money is something that’s really valuable nowadays. I think the Ten delivers, big time. It’s one of the few sub €40 bottles that I’m always in the mood for. Let’s have a taste, shall we:

It pleases the senses, without being too complex. Of course there are lots of other fish in the sea, but I’ll keep this Ardbeg as one of my casual sippers.

What’s your opinion about Ardbeg? And have you ever discovered a well known whisky way too late?