It was about 5 years ago that a lot of distilleries on the south coast of Islay celebrated their bicentennial. And by a lot I mean all three of them.

Lagavulin released their 8 year old which I thought was pretty shit. Laphroaig released their 15 year old which I thought was rather great.

Now I finally write a review to Ardbeg’s take on a 200th birthday. I wrote the review quite a while ago, but decided to finally publish my notes. No particular reason, just because I found them…

Ardbeg Perpetuum is a combination of bourbon and sherry casks. This, at least, is good. No weird wine casks or some cask from a 200 year old rotten tree taken from a peat bog next to the distillery or something. Also not a toothpick with whisky that’s been to space, or such nonsense.

Sniff:
Gentle and smoky. There’s some grass and straw. Fairly simple, with oak, and a hint of dry white wine. A bit sauvignon blanc like.

Sip:
Sharper than the nose made me expect. A bit of alcohol, wood and straw. Smoky of course with hints of salt and sea weed.

Swallow:
Quite some oak and largely the same flavors as on the palate.

Well, I’m not sure what happened here. Even reading my tasting notes makes me want to take a nap, and I guess that’s how I feel about the whisky. It’s not actually bad, but it’s just very, very boring. There’s nothing happening here that makes me want to drink this instead of either the regular 10 years old, the Corryvreckan or the Uigeadail.

Especially that last one, which is a lot cheaper than the Perpetuum, is a stellar whisky. So, no, I wouldn’t pay twice the money for something as forgettable as this.

82/100