Fans of smoky malts have something to celebrate next month with the arrival of Ardbeg Traigh Bhan (pronounced ‘Tri-Van’), a brand new 19 Year Old expression from the Islay distillery.
This September Ardbeg are bringing us a 19 year old expression, said to be inspired by the beautiful vista of Islay’s Traigh Bhan – known locally as The Singing Sands.
What is getting us most excited about this release is that it's the first time in 20 years that Ardbeg will release an aged whisky as a permanent expression, with the plan to release a single batch each year going forward. Each annual batch of Traigh Bhan will feature a unique code on the carton, bottle and foot label that and can be looked up on ardbeg.com to find out more about that particular batches history - one for the whisky geeks to get involved with!
The official tasting notes tell us that Ardbeg Traigh Bhan is seductively smooth on the nose, before sudden, intense and rugged flavour notes come to the fore. Its exquisite taste crescendo is a rush like a surf of salt, smoke, sweet and sour. In fact, these characteristics are a reflection of the shores that inspired this expression.
Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, said:
“A new, permanent aged Ardbeg is a rare occurrence, and cause for celebration. We hope that, by slightly tweaking the batch recipe year-on-year, Ardbeggians can have some fun exploring the finer details of this ever-changing dram. As far as taste goes, this 19 Year Old whisky plunges the palate into notes of smoky pineapple and aromatic wood smoke, with a sweet mouthfeel of smoked chilli chocolate and paprika. The intense notes then peter out through a long, smoky finish.”
Matured in American oak and Oloroso sherry casks and bottled with an abv of 46.2%, this 19 year old Ardbeg is sure to be treat for all smoke lovers.
Ardbeg Traigh Bhan will be available to pre-order from The Whisky Shop very soon.
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