About Ardbeg Dark Cove Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The southernmost of the Inner Hebridean Scottish Isles, the island of Islay (pronounced EYE-lah) is only 240 square miles and home to just over 3,000 people. Still, the island is one of just five distilling regions in Scotland whose identity is protected by law. Ardbeg Distillery, which is situated on the southern coast of Islay, was founded in 1815 by the MacDougall family. By 1886, nearly one-third of the population of Islay worked at the distillery and today, it stands as a testament to Scottish heritage and tradition.
Beneath the surface, however, the distillery has a checkered past. Ardbeg was once a notorious hideout for smugglers, who plied their trade within its hidden caves and secret beaches — dark tales abound of daring deeds and narrow escapes from the island’s excise men in the years before the McDougalls founded the distillery.
Inspired by its murky past, this year Ardbeg has — for the first time ever — decided to plunge its annual
Ardbeg Day into
Ardbeg Night. To commemorate Ardbeg Night, which will take place on May 28th, 2016, Ardbeg has released Ardbeg Dark Cove Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, a limited-edition bottling which Mickey Heads, the distillery’s manager, claims is its “darkest ever.”
Ardbeg Single Malt Scotch Whisky is made from malted barley, which is peated to approximately 50 phenol parts per million. Once the grains have been fermented, they are distilled twice, first through a copper-pot wash still and then again through a copper-pot spirit still. The spirit still is equipped with a purifier, which acts as small condenser and causes a portion of the evaporating vapors to be pumped back into the pot and then re-distilled. This purification process, which is rare in the industry, results in whisky that has a signature fresh and malty flavor.
Ardbeg Dark Cove Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky was aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and “dark” (read: heavily-seasoned) sherry casks, which contribute notes of cured meats, chocolate oranges, coffee, oil, and blackcurrant to the nose. The palate transitions to tart flavors of lime, honey, ginger, pepper and oak, and leads to an exquisite finish marked by almonds, toffee, raisins, dates and wood polish.
This limited-edition whisky is sure to sell out quickly — pick up a bottle (or two) today!
About Scotch
Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)
Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.
Check out our impressive selection of scotch whiskies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 scotch whiskies, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find scotch whiskies.
