Ardbeg 10 year L08 057 is, technically speaking, what the Path To Peaty Maturity was leading up to. If you’ve been following along here on TWJ we’ve been taking a deep exploration into Ardbeg and so you already know what the PTPM is, but if not here’s a quick synopsis. Glenmorangie bought Ardbeg in 1997 but didn’t really ramp up full production till 1998 which is when everything in the PTPM, and most of the juice in this, was distilled. The “Path” was a series of 4 releases over 5 years and was a lead up to the new Ardbeg team’s release of the first Ardbeg TEN that was distilled under Glenmorangie’s stewardship.
The official Path To Peaty Maturity consisted of Ardbeg Very Young (6 years released in 2004), Ardbeg Still Young (8 years released in 2006), Ardbeg Almost There (9 years released in 2007) and Ardbeg Renaissance (10 years released in 2008). All of which was a way to get people excited for this, the first official Ardbeg TEN distilled under Glenmo. Like the rest of the PTPM the majority of the juice in this bottle was distilled 1998. The only major differences between this and those are that since it doesn’t have a “distilled on” date it could possibly include some pre-1998 distillate and it’s bottled at the traditional 46% instead of cask strength.
Ardbeg 10 year L08 057 Review
Distiller: Ardbeg
Age: 10 years
ABV: 46%
Bottling: L08 057
Price: NA (auction / “dusty”)
Non-Chill Filtered
Natural Color
Non-Chill Filtered
Natural Color
EYE
Pear juice
NOSE
Peat, saline, vanilla, fruit, honey grahams, citrus and a malty sweetness dominate. Lighter notes of caramel, spice, butterscotch and smoked meat are at play, but aren’t very forceful.
PALATE
Here the peat seems more tamed, even a bit subdued compared to the nose, but it’s still at the forefront. Vanilla, fruit, honey, saline ad charred pastry coat the mouth with lighter notes of dust, leather, old wood and a medicinal rubberiness.
FINISH
Long with big notes of peat and fruit and lighter notes of graham, salt and campfire smoke.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Nice balance, round body and soft easy feel.
OVERALL
I really liked the Ardbeg 10 year L08 057. it’s really interesting to try a bunch of 10 years from different ages and see how they’ve changed over the years. I don’t know if it’s slight modifications in distilling process, quality of casks, source of grain, evolution of the yeast strains or all of the above, but it’s interesting to see exactly how the individual character of Ardbeg changes from year to year. If you get the chance to try 10s from different years side by side I definitely recommend you do!
SCORE: 89/100 (range given since it was not tasted at home)