Ardbeg An Oa: The Single Malt Review Episode 144
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- A new edition to Ardbeg's core range. An Oa is gathered from a broader range of casks than the bourbon dominant 10 Years Old, with some additional time spent in a large 'gathering vat' before bottling. The result is an Ardbeg expression with a deeper, fruitier, more sherry matured character.
(looks like the graphics for our scores got swapped during editing)
I discovered this beautiful gem of an Ardbeg malt maybe a half a year ago. Just bought my 2nd ever bottle and indeed love this expression very much. It is priced virtually the same as the 10 year expression with damn near the same ABV at about $50 after tax (where I live anyway).... Nice review guys!!!! Slainte!!!
Fantastic review as always. You both have the ability to articulate your tasting experience really well, which helps me understand what I am likely to expect if I buy it. I struggle to pay more for an NAS than an age-stated whisky. The Uigedail does have a much higher ABV than the 10y, so the slightly higher price is bordering on acceptable.
I love your reviews. I was right 😁I said in another review that the smoke is masked on this An Oa interesting so, and I go over to an Ardbeg channel and a distiller said that this is actually more smokey than the 10 but the PX cask has the widely known characteristic of hiding the peat. With me the peat seems to have a delayed onset also, but the neck pour, saying all of that, I hardly detected any peat but I may have just of been having an off day with the pallet on that occasion, but on another day I tasted the peat very strongly, interesting stuff.
Thank you for this very thoughtful and fair review. It helps a neophyte like me. I also to smelled the burning rubber smell when nosing the Ardbeg 10. I can’t wait to give this one a try. Sidenote I enjoyed the car puns.
Informative and interesting tasting. I have the An Oa in my glass, too. It's good and it's different from the rest of the core range.. Keep up the good work. Cheers mates.
can you recommend Ardbeg an oa .is it good smoky?
Agree it doesn’t differ enough from the 10. The Uigeadall and Corryvreckan have a pretty clear line between them.
Very good review!
I'm with you Tim. Too much like the ten yo --except for the price!!! An Oa has a 30% premium over the ten yo in my area. No thanks!!!!
6:40 Sounds like my kind of Ardbeg since that confectionary citrusy sweetness of the 10 really made me decide that I am more a Laphroaigian and a Lagavulian rather than an Ardbegian. Also, the sherry influence sounds interesting, so the real question then would be if the price difference to the Uigeadail makes it a worthier buy than that one. But from what Tim says in the second half, it sounds as if one might as well put in a couple € more for the Uigeadail.
*Speaking of the Uigeadail* , I just noticed you haven't directly reviewed it. And given the fact that you apparently can't help buying copious amounts of liquor, would you mind putting in a review of the latest Uigeadail expression in comparison to this ?
It seems like even with my favorite distilleries, my choices boil down to one or maximally two standard expressions.
_Reposted for error correction_
Oops, so I did.
You did review the Uigeadail ?
No, we've never done the Uigedail. It's one I used to buy regularly years ago, but as the batches went on I felt it was moving steadily away from the great whisky it used to be and becoming too much like just a cask strength version of the 10. So stopped buying it. But it's one that I we should probably re-visit sooner or later. Our local whisky specialist probably has a current bottle open, so I might go and ask to taste it, and if it seems worth while then I'll pick one up for review.
Ty. It would be sufficient for my purposes, BTW, if - after tasting from that sample - you'd send me a PM saying which of these two you'r rather buy if you had to choose between them.
The Uigeadail and which other? The An Oa?
Its of course not the most special Ardberg....but it ticks my personal box...I agree its like the 10 which I love but with a little sherried sweetness....No bad thing. I also rather like wee beastie...which is good value. And surprisingly complex.
I love the ugieadail. Not tried the rest of the range. Think I'll just buy the 10 next.
To be honest guys I don't understand the reason behind this release. Currently £10 more expensive than the classic 10 YO and ever so slightly cheaper (£3) than the amazing Uigeadail - why would I purchase this? The 10YO and Uigeadail are readily available in shops in my area - I cannot find the An Oa anywhere locally, which means another £6 postage taking it to £55 for a bottle.
That's also £20 more expensive than the Laphroaig Quarter Cask (another favourite of mine) which is also readily available locally. The price point kills it for me - if it was let's say £35-£40 a bottle it would be worth a punt, but at very close to £50 I would get the Uigeadail every time if I fancied a bottle of Ardbeg.
I more or less agree, and say as much in the review that I think for a core range addition it needs more of its own identity. If the feedback I've gotten from the review is anything to go by, then the general consensus is that the An Oa needs to bring more to the table to justify its price. But they will make this stuff in batches, so they'll have the opportunity to improve the blend in the future and throw a 'batch 2' label on it to let consumers know it's different. That would be my advice to them anyway.
I wish Ardbeg could have released an older age statement whisky to the core range. Therefore I am disappointed.
I got the strong nuttiness that Dave discovered but my score was more in line with Tim @ 84. Young, raw and 25% above the Ten in price I don't think I'll buy a second bottle. The new char and PX are barely perceivable so I'd much rather have another Uigeadail instead.
It seems to me that the Finance and Marketing Departments (not the master distiller) came together and decided that they needed to fill the price gap between the 10-year old Ardbeg and the Uigeadail and Corryvreckan. An Oa is not worth the added price. Stick with the 10-year old or wait for a sale and get either the Uigeadail or Corryvreckan, which are both excellent, though over priced, Scotches.
Have you tried Jameson Crested 10? Also how about Cleveland Underground bourbon?
Not something I've seen in our location, but the Jameson should be attainable. It would be our first Irish whisky if I tracked it down, so I might put that on the list.
My score's more in line with Tim - 86 tops. I don't think it's like the 10 year with that dollop of px in it though. I like it, it's a good whisky but the price is a little too much. It should be the same price as the 10. It's about £10 more in the U.K.
this episode of Tim & Eric is weird
Nice
So ARROGANT…WAY to much water, especially by the tool in the red shirt. 🙄
Overrated smokey pool chemicals