I am a Japanese girl living in Scotland. This is by far and away my favourite whisky from my favourite distillery. So deep and complex. A real slow sipper by an open fire with great company. Slainte mhath and Kanpai
Akiko: I am an American living in Japan, and I agree with you completely! :-) yes, open fire and great company: excellent! by the way, you realize that you are almost the exact opposite of “maa-san” (do you know the old NHK drama?), the Scottish wife of Taketsuru! I’m jealous that you live in the land of scotch whisky, but I enjoy living in the land of sake... :-). slainte, cheers, salad, and... kanpai!
This is, in my opinion, a great example of the fact a drinker has a certain responsibility to the juice. In other words, don't rush to judgement. There is often a requirement to learn to understand the drink. Great review guys!
Ooooo-weeeee boys!!!! Very interesting dram. I think it's a little hot, and needs a dash of water to really appreciate it. Initially, I get strong sherry and weak smoke on the nose. Paradoxically, strong smoke and weak sherry on the palate. Water didn't weaken the flavors, the alcohol hotness just disappeared. This "Oogie" is so complex, versatile, demanding, and fun. Ardbeg is illustrating why scotch is so much more amazing than any other spirit. Great job Dummies!!!
Can't say it any better than that! At that ABV there shouldn't be any worry of not being able to handle a little H2O! Enjoy and thanks for the comment!!!
Has to be one of the best scotches for the money! Also, Mickey Heads says Uigeadail is a vatting of 15-20% oloroso sherry casks and 1st & 2nd fill bourbon casks done 4-5 times a year. Cheers
Hey guys! A while since you did this review but I wanted to say thanks for a great review. Listening to you describe your notes helps crystallize some of what I tasted. I was surprised how much more sherry I got versus the smoke. It is so well rounded (nearly a Lagavulin 16!) except for the almost effervescent/minty lift on the first taste. Keep up the awesome work. Andrew said it best “How do they do that?”
Hands down my favorite Islay whisky!!!! For sure in my top 5 Scotch of all time. I was so excited to see this review I had to post a comment before hearing your review. Lol. Cheers brothers. Aka Corey Martin
Big and Bold says it for me. This is my fav. Ardbeg so far, but my journey has only included the 10 yr. so far. Luv them both, but the Uigeadail is far superior . Thx for the review, guys. 😎. Smoking a Rocky Patel Decade as I taste.
Another great review, thanks guys. What cigar(s) would you recommend to pair with the Uigeadail? I stick mostly to Robustos like the Cohiba Robusto and Hoyo De Monterrey Epicure #2 etc (sometimes My Uzi Weighs a Ton from from Drew Estate for something cheaper) but haven't had a chance to pair them properly with any single malts yet. Cheers.
You guys are lucky over there if you can pick it up for that price; I'm in Scotland as well and you are lucky to pick it up over here for £53/$66. Got to love tax eh!
Pretty new to watching your videos guys and I gotta say I enjoy them very much. I feel I relate most to you guys on where Im at in my scotch experience and I always look forward to your weekly uploads. That being said, Id love to get your take on the Bruichladdich un-peated Scottish Barley. It's an Islay without the smoke and I'd be interested in seeing what notes you can get from it and it might be something you all enjoy. It runs for roughly $50-$60 so it wont break the bank. Plus it has a pretty interesting light blue bottle that looks great on any shelf.
Keep the reviews coming guys. Out of curiosity what cigars did you smoke with the Uigeadail? Most of the time I find that even strong cigars can't stand up to most scotch. Thanks in advance.
Whew.....that's a tough question to answer as if we're "dummies" about scotch, we're plain down right dumbasses when it comes to stogies and the funny thing is one of us has a 6 foot humidor packed! One favorite is the G2, it's creamy and light, but when it comes down to it when we want to spark a smoke with a nice Islay, we usually just grab one and go.... I guess, it's high time we start soliciting cigar advice.....hint hint!
Thanks guys! I just got my first bottle of the Uigeadail and I can't wait to try it with a cigar. I'm going to pair it with a good Nicaraguan puro or I have found that a spicy cigar with a Mexican San Andreas wrapper is exceptional with a good Islay. Happy New Years! Can't wait to see the next review.
Phew - 4 for me...Still trying to decide if I like this more than the Dark Cove, or not. If they let me in heaven, my first dinner will be Steak Diane, with asparagus, and roasted potatoes/carrots, and a huge 4 finger pour of this. Which one if you is the chef again? Shawn? What's for dessert man? =)
It has some very old Oloroso sherry cask in it from the 70s and younger.... Someday Ardbeg will run out of it and then they told that the Uigadail will be discontinued, other than that it has the 10 years of the ordinary American bourbon cask firstfilled and secondfilled blended toghether at a higher strength. So its a blend of older sherrycask from the 70s and younger and the regular 10 as a basis. 74.50$ in my valuta here in Sweden. I regard this togheter with the 10 year old as the best Islays and the absolute best valued whisky. But this will be discontinued some time or change name. Its said to have been even older and better before, and it does vary abit from years to years. I buyed this for Christmas this year. I look forward to try this again in near future. This is the absolute best of the Islays, age statement or not. After that I Choose Laphroaig Quartercask on par with Ardbeg 10. I dont neceserraly favor old age statements in Islays, because it tends to withdraw on the peatsmoke. Ardbeg is non coloured, its a shame that they dont state it in the label. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sHpIuOYNLK4.html
I just gave this a try yesterday and I'm finding it to be a Wow so far! The nose threw me a bit so I went to their website. I think I'm picking up on the pine needles - anyone else?. The taste is very good to fantastic. The ABV at 54% is likely my max. Laphroaig's Cask Strength batch #007 at 57% was just over the top for me. I don't put water on anything, out of respect to the Masters. I get why you do it - for consistency sake during your reviews. (Side note) I read where malt masters - master distillers do not travel with their apprentices just in case there is an accident. (Cigars) My favorite is the Punch brand. Give their standard "Punch" a try with an Islay and their Gran Puro with the sweeter stuff. Thanks fellas.
It is almost shocking how the cigar brings out the sweetness of this scotch. Definitely worth a try if you are into cigars. Let us know your opinion. Cheers!
This one was a "WTF" is this scotch for us Dummies.... I'll never forget opening the bottle and all 4 of us going "HOLY SHIT"....and now....My Sweet Love! LOL ~Mark
Islays are not my go to, but I've had and finished a Laphroig 10, and am 1/2 way through a Talisker Storm. The Laphroig was very smoked and peaty where as the Talisker is more subtle... I'm looking forward to another Islay. Was thinking of the Bowmore 12 or small batch...
Oh the Islays...I have a major crush on them right now. You can't go wrong with Bowmore...try darkest for sweet smokey. I think we did a review a while back. -Drew
You did... the darkest is a bit more pricey than the 12 and the small batch is $32... I remember your review of the darkest. That's why I'm interested in the Bowmores and like you, I like the sweeter Speysides and am now getting into the Islays... Thanks again and fun time watching and chatting on Thursday... Keep it up!
Damn....can we say both? LOL. Honestly have to say Uig, but that's because only tried the DC at a tasting once and didn't have enough of an opportunity to get to know it....
Interesting with the dude not convinced by the water. I've been drinking Uigeadail recently and finding it doesn't take as much water as you'd expect for such a strong scotch. A bit makes it spectacular but a drop too much kills it.
I agree with all of your tastings. Best of both worlds from the sherry & peat aspect. For such a high abv, it sure taste good neat. I agree with Mark, I prefer this neat, BUT this is certainly one you can add water to, just to take the edge off the alcohol. I taste both young and older scotch in this bottle. Definitely a sipper of a scotch. Its about $58 at Total Wine over here. Shawn, you mention how your palates have changed and how you would of rated this the first time. I'm with you on that, it just means all of us have matured in the scotch world. Good point Andrew, mentioning how the distillery decided to present the juice in the bottle. I would rate this a solid 3.5. Drew, shame on your score of 3.0..:>)) Great review guys.
Keep this up Keith...we're going to have to change our name to Scotch 5 Dummies! LOL. We really appreciate your comments and usually spend time before and after recording a review talking about your comments! Keep'em coming! Thanks!!!
Our scale is based on a 4 scale (as in a 4 finger pour if it's top shelf). We've had a few now that have scored 4's from all of us.... our rating spreadsheet can be found on our web site.... www.scotch4dummies.com ~Mark
Sure is an exceptional whisky! First time I tasted it, it suprised me that a scotch could have that kind of flavours! I got ashy, oily shelfish notes but with a certain honey sweetness. The high rating is certainly deserved but you guys did not seem very enthousiastic IMO. Enjoyed the review very much! See you next dram guys!
The Dalmore King Alexander III earned a 4 from all of us and more recently we tried a 50 year old Glen Grant that was easily a 4. We try not to hand them out too often but anything above 3 is really worth your time to try. Cheers
Agree to disagree on this one....we've found time and time again that even a few drops can completely change a dram! But, then again...drink it the way you like it! ;-)
Agree that just drops of water very often enhances the nose and palete. Kieth, I can easily drink this neat, but my 2 or 3 cl drams of Uigeadail gets better with a couple of teaspoons of water. But our palates are different. Its a hell of a drink we agree on!
