Just over 3,000 people live on the island of Islay, which is the southernmost of the Inner Hebridean Scottish Isles and just 240 square miles in size. However, the island is one of only five distilling districts in Scotland that have legal protection for their identity.

The MacDougall family established Ardbeg Distillery in 1815, and it is located on the southern coast of Islay. The distillery, which employs about one-third of Islay’s workforce by 1886, is a reminder of Scottish culture and traditions.

The malted barley used to make Ardbeg Single Malt Scotch Whisky is peated to about 50 phenol parts per million (compared to 110 phenol ppm for Leviathan II Whiskey and 169 ppm for Octomore 5.1). When the peated barley reaches the distillery, it is ground and mashed using water from Loch Uigeadail, which is about three miles away.

The mashed barley is then fermented in Oregon pine washbacks. Wooden washbacks absorb some of the heat produced during fermentation, making the whisky lighter and richer, but they are more costly and more difficult to maintain than stainless steel washbacks. Furthermore, the whisky receives estery and carbolic chemicals from the wooden washbacks.

After 55 hours of fermentation, the wash undergoes two distillations: one in a copper-pot wash still and another in a copper-pot spirit still. Part of the evaporating vapors are pumped back into the pot and re-distilled since the spirit still has a purifier that serves as a little condenser. This purification method, which is uncommon in the industry, produces whiskey with a distinctively malty and crisp flavor.

The first new whisky to join Ardbeg’s core lineup in nearly ten years is Ardbeg An Oa. In Ardbeg’s custom French oak “Gathering Vat,” which is housed in the distillery’s Gathering Room, a former grain store, whiskies from several cask types—including Pedro Ximénes, spicy virgin charred oak, and ex-bourbon casks—are wedded together to create this NAS single malt.

The phrase honors the Oa peninsula on Islay. The peninsula is home to the distilleries of Lagavulin and Laphroaig, as well as Ardbeg. This special edition, which is nonchill-filtered and bottled at 46.6% ABV, features distinctive Ardbeg peat notes along with smooth, silky butterscotch, black pepper, clove, and dark chocolate and anise flavors.

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Notes on Tasting

The nose has notes of dates, peaches, bananas, creamy toffee, aniseed, and smoked applewood. Lime, pine resin, fennel, saddle soap and tar, candle wax, faint traces of smoked herbs, and faint saline notes are among the scents released by a drop of water. Some cigar smoke, grilled artichokes, wood, mildly nutty notes, milk chocolate, treacle toffee, aniseed, orange, and smoky tea leaves, as well as mildly sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. With floral overtones, mint toffee, a hint of malty biscuit, and smoke, the finish is sweet and lengthy.