Skip to main content

Ardbeg 22 years Twenty Something

fresh
4.6
(1)€571Scotland, Islay, Single Malt

Flavours

Whisky character

Fresh
Warm
Mild
Full
Smooth
Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

Ardbeg filled these casks in the spring of 1996, its last year before Glenmorangie bought the distillery. Islay had almost lost the place. It had sat closed through much of the 1980s and ran only in fits afterwards. Twenty two years in ex-bourbon wood turned that scarce spirit into something surprisingly bright. Pineapple and pear come first, then the peat smoke rolls in behind. Brine sits under it all, with a medicinal edge that keeps the shoreline in view. Very few casks from that year ever made it this far.

Compare prices

No shops found to compare.

Good alternatives

Reviews

4.6 /5

1 reviews

1 star
2 star
3 star
4 star
5 star

What do you think?

About the distillery

Distillery

Ardbeg

Ardbeg distillery is located on the southern coast of the Isle of Islay, Scotland. It was founded in 1815 and has been producing some of the world's most highly regarded Islay single malt whiskies ever since. Ardbeg uses traditional malted barley, Scottish water, and peat to produce its signature smoky and peaty flavors. The distillery uses malted barley that is heavily peated to around 55 parts per million (ppm) phenols, which gives its whiskies a distinct and powerful flavor. Interesting fact: In 2011, Ardbeg sent vials of its whisky to the International Space Station to study the effects of microgravity

4.2Average rating

137Whiskies on Distilld

Flag of ScotlandScotland

Islay

Most popular whiskies from Ardbeg

About the Ardbeg 22 years Twenty Something

Ardbeg 22 years Twenty Something is a single malt Scotch whisky from Islay. Peat runs through it, as it does through everything the distillery makes. The spirit was distilled in spring 1996 and left in ex-bourbon casks. Twenty two years later it came out at 46.4%, without chill filtration. Age has softened the smoke rather than removed it. What is left is an old Islay malt with its edges intact. Ardbeg nearly did not survive to make this whisky. The distillery closed for much of the 1980s and ran only sporadically through the 1990s. Spring 1996 fell in its last year before Glenmorangie bought the site in 1997. Production only became steady again after that sale. So very few casks exist from those final, uncertain months. This release pulls from that small, awkward pocket of stock. The nose leads with pineapple and pear, bright for something this old. Behind the fresh fruit sits brine, a medicinal note and floral lift. Peat smoke arrives late rather than first. On the palate it turns green and vegetative, with damp earth underneath. Vanilla from the bourbon wood keeps it sweet. The finish stays earthy and oaky, smoky right to the end. Nothing about it feels tired. Most Ardbeg reaching shelves is young and heavily peated. Ardbeg 22 years Twenty Something works the other way round. Two decades in ex-bourbon wood let the fruit come forward and the smoke settle back. The distillery sold it only to Committee members, at £440 a bottle in October 2018. That price bought a dram from its most uncertain decade. Few Islay malts carry that kind of backstory.