Shoutout to u/No-Requirement3537 and u/fancoouver_millenial on the r/Scotch Reddit thread that both recommended Wee Beastie to us 5 months ago when we posted our Lagavulin 8 review.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: 47.4% ABV, $85 CAD, ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso, 5 years old.
We sniff around:
It's got a sweetness to it. Herbally. Like sweetened herbal medicine. Trevor brings up Fisherman's Friend. Simon says more like Ricola but same idea.
This says it's been in Oloroso but aside from a vague sweetness and slightly more color than Ardbeg 10...
Simon gets a bit of hay, a bit of smoke. Trevor says citrus. Scott pulls a maltiness, little seaweed. Sean smells peat. Kyle brings up brine.
We cheers.
Simon gets the herbally medicine still, the Ricola. It's fiesty too. It's got a good spice that kept up throughout the drink. Scott can get the mediciny a bit but not the herbal. He gets some sweetness on the finish. Sean too.
Simon thinks it tastes like they marinated a charchoal in there. Scott calls it the char marks on a steak.
Trevor points to an oiliness. He gets the overcooked burger patty Scott is shooting for.
Scott's has an odd note he can't pinpoint. Some kind of sulphur. Intriguing smell. Like something is slightly past due but good enough to microwave. Little earthy?
Reviews: Scott is going in at a hard 90 on this. He loves it. It differentiates itself from the other youthful Islays and it's got something that keeps him coming back. Simon likes the charcoal note, he likes the herbally sweet thing it's got going on. He sees this as a feistier, immature version of Corryvreckan. It's a little thin though. He pins this at 83. Trevor goes 86. It's got cool notes. He likes the charred meat/herbal medicine combo. Sean lands on 88. He thinks it's one point better than Coal Ila 12 we reviewed recently. Kyle wraps this out with an 88. Definitely something he's going to seek a bottle of. We average out to 87.
Overall: Just based on the rating and the fact that it lands at #2 on our value scale at 89.2, you know we're recommending this. When you compare to the other youthful entry level bourbon aged Islays, It gets slightly outranked by Lagavulin 8 and it just edges out Caol Ila 12, but for sure it's got its own nuances going on. Looking at our reviews from summer 2020, Ardbeg 10 didn't do nearly as well. Simon rated Ardbeg 10 the highest and still a couple points less than Wee Beastie, whereas Simon is now the lowest bidder on Wee Beastie. So we either have to revisit Ardbeg 10 with more experienced tastebuds, or it just doesn't stand up to its younger sibling.
Cheers!
The S&P Crew.
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