Ardbeg – Heavy Vapours Committee 2023 (70cl, 50.2%)

This is the 2023 Committee bottling from Ardbeg on Islay, released for Ardbeg Day and bottled at 50.2% in a 70cl bottle. It continues the distillery's Planet Ardbeg comic series. For the first time at Ardbeg, the spirit was distilled without a purifier, the filter above the still that normally balances peat with floral fruitiness. Dr Bill Lumsden used this to capture the heavy, untamed vapours. The nose is rising smoke with some sweetness, farmyard notes, old railway sleepers and tarred rope. On the palate come bittersweet ashy coal dust, cardamom, peppermint, coffee, dark chocolate, eucalyptus and aniseed. The finish is long and strong.