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Ardbeg Supernova

peaty malty
4.5
(10)€701Scotland, Islay, Single Malt

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Taste mentions

Facts

The Ardbeg Committee, the distillery's own club of enthusiasts, got first call on this bottle. Supernova was malted to around 100 ppm phenols, roughly double what standard Ardbeg uses. That made it one of the smokiest whiskies in the world when it landed. Peat is not the whole story though. Under the tar and ash sit bright lemon, green apple and honey. The finish turns dark with chocolate and coffee, and it does not hurry. Loud, salty and unmistakably Islay, it commits hard to a single idea.

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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

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About the Ardbeg Supernova

Ardbeg Supernova is a single malt Scotch whisky from Islay, the peat capital of Scotland. The distillery bottled it at 60.1% ABV, straight from cask strength, with no age statement. It was built for the Ardbeg Committee, the distillery's own club of enthusiasts. Nothing here is softened for a wider audience. The name is a promise about the smoke, and the liquid keeps that promise. Standard Ardbeg malt is peated to roughly 50–60 ppm phenols. For Supernova the distillery pushed that figure to around 100 ppm. That made it one of the most heavily peated whiskies in the world at release. Those numbers come from the malted barley, not from the bottle. Distillation and years in oak strip plenty of it away. Enough survives here to change the whole picture. Smoke arrives first, but it comes wrapped in iodine and brine, salty and almost medicinal. Green apple and lemon cut underneath, keeping things bright at that strength. Honey and licorice fill the middle, thickened by tar and wet ash. Earthy notes settle below the fruit. Later the whisky turns darker. Dark chocolate, coffee and a mineral edge linger well past the smoke. Ardbeg Supernova sits at the far end of the distillery's range, and that is the point. Committee bottlings like this were never stocked on ordinary shop shelves. They went to members of the club first, in limited numbers. Choosing this over the core range means choosing intensity over balance. Anyone who already likes Islay smoke will find the ceiling raised. Pour it neat and let the peat unfold.