Spirit of Scotland - Ardbeg 1996/2005 - Tasting Notes

This is a bottling of Speymalt Whisky Dist. Ltd from Gordon & MacPhail. This was distilled at the Ardbeg distillery in 1996 and matured in cask #935 and bottled on 1-9-2005 at 52,9%. Got a taste of this one at a tasting held at the shop van Wees by Mr van Wees. Lovely night with lovely whiskies in the line up.

Nose
Peat, sweet, fruity, custard and salty coastal notes. Anise, herbal, heather, fresh, black pepper, dried fruits and dense cake. The custard and salty coastal notes combine very nicely together.

Palate
Blast of peat and sweetness, pepper, warm spices, honey, salty, chocolate, heather, herbal and fruits.

Finish
Long and warm

Score
8 out of 10, beautiful dram, fresh, sweet, complex, warm and fruity. Sadly this one was in the end op an 8 - dram line up of an amazing tasting. So my palate was a bit "full"  with the impressions of the other ones at that time and had a difficult time to get more specific notes out if it. Got stuck with the warm, sweet, fruity and spices a bit. But it was a great dram for sure, enjoyed it very much!