Islay region – 60.1%ABV – $130 | £80 | €92
A couple of nights ago I mentioned to the folks in a post on the Friends of the Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society Facebook page that I finally got around to reviewing the Ardbeg Supernova SN2010.
What seemed like it could have popped up 2.3 seconds before I posted my announcement, my friend Jason from the Guid Scotch Drink blog commented saying “‘Bout bloody time. 2011 will be along here shortly!”
Point taken. Yeah, I’m a bit late on this but there are reasons for that. To be very honest with you, it’s taken me many, many tastings to actually appreciate this stuff. I’m not sure if I had a series of “off nights” where my nose was not working correctly or perhaps I was not in the right mood… Not sure. I can tell you this is intense whisky – and deserves 100% of your attention.
On the nose — Knock your socks off peat smoke, iodine and grapefruit or pomelo.
Lemon custard and buttery pie crust.
I am reminded of the show Alice with the head “chef” Mel cooking bacon while, and perhaps this is just a false memory, smoking a cigarette – match those two scents and that’s what I’m getting here.
Also salted pork and nori wraps.
On the mouth — Soft and oily mouth feel with a strong bite of alcohol.
We’ll keep this to tiny sips… A bit tough to get past the heat, peat and lemons (strong with the lemons) but, it is a bit spellbinding.
Some red berries are in there as well.
Dry, dry cardboard and sugared rhubarb.
More on the lemons and a bit on the grapefruits – marmalades and candies rinds. Yum!!
Wet ropes, fishing rubbers and salted caramels.
Lively yet not “young” – this seems to be bottled at maturity.
Vanilla now and a good deal of it.
Finish — Long, hot and filled with a new note of plums (think slivovitz).
In sum — The good news is: I loved this whisky. Bright and energizing and balanced wonderfully between the fruits, drying qualities, salt and smoke.
The bad news is, as mentioned above: it’s taken me 66% of my bottle to come to this conclusion. Is it me or the whisky… tough to tell. It’s highly upfront and potent.
Overall, insanely enjoyable but it was hard to break through and unravel all of its many joys… One to drink when you’re pissed off! Its a mood changer for sure!
Let’s pray Jason is right – let’s hope there is a 2011 version of this whisky.
One of my favorite reviews of this whisky was given by Sarah Bergfeld (long time guest contributor to Guid Scotch Drink) – her review of the Supernova SN2010 (plus other Ardbegs) can be read here.