Whisky Party

This past year has been a fantastic, slippery journey, and all three members of WhiskyParty were able to get together recently to recount the 365 or so whisky-soaked days that have passed since we started this blog.  The festivities included finally opening our bottle of Supernova, plus a tasting of the ridiculously good and now extremely rare Laphroaig 30 year old, courtesy of StrongLikeCask.  We’ll add our Laphroaig 30 notes soon, but wanted to start out with our notes on the first release (non-committee) of Ardbeg’s Supernova.  We had purchased the bottle when it first came out and were planning on doing a timely review when we were all together.  Just so happened we were never all together until recently.  So it goes.

Before we post our thoughts on the whisky below, let us just say that we’re honored to be here writing about something we love.  The weblog continues to be a place where the three of us can share our thoughts,  embrace the history of and learn more about whisk(e)y, and stay connected with one another as we continue on our journeys through life.  We did not imagine that others might appreciate our thoughts, and we had no idea of the strength and camaraderie of the whisky community.  It is heartening, uplifting and infinitely rewarding to be thought of as members.  Though sometimes hampered by the prohibitive (at times) cost of enjoying whisky, by our various travels, studies, and starting out in our careers, we are thankful that we always have a place to learn, droogs with whom to drink no matter how far away we are physically, and a passion that continues to unite us as friends.  Thanks to everyone for reading, to everyone for sharing their own thoughts, and for all our friends, families, and acquaintances who let us geek out on our passion for uisge beatha.  We raise a glass to you.

Finally.

Here’s our notes from the ‘Nova:

Ardbeg Supernova

Abv: 58.9%

Color: natural golden flax.

Legs: tiny, tight, and slow at first, but then developing some size and length

Supernovae are "extremely luminous"

Nose:

[Dodgy Drammer] rich, sweet, peaty, and creamy—thousand island dressing? Graham crackers; briny, with mussels in white wine; some fiery cinnamon. Water brings out the fruitcake.

[Srong Like Cask] extremely inviting.  metallic, briny, rusty, smoke, sweet, vegetal (snap peas!), ginger

Palate:

[DD] wow, sensory overload. Remarkable movement, too– from burning coals to even burning-er coals. During our party someone mentioned gingersnaps, I believe—the unwatered palate is definitely gingersnaps. With some water, I get more of the cinnamon, thyme, a rampant peat fire (as if someone set the bog ablaze), some fresh cherries in cream, and then heavily roasted peanuts toward the end.

[SLC] immediate sweetness with strong coalsmoke overtones.  some heather. on a bbq, apparently.  More smoke.  A tinge of cough syrupness.

Exceeding its Chandrasekhar limit

Finish:

[DD] long and strong, with some salt, pepper, and smoke.

[SLC] sweetness, gingersnaps, a lingering candied smoke.  are those cherry pits?

Overall:

[DD] when we were drinking this for fun, it seemed amusing but not serious—someone really couldn’t have spent all those resources making this and charging this much for it, right? It was like a great novelty—awesome at doing what it’s sold to do but nothing else. However, after a session of concentration and assessment, it is a wholly amazing whisky that tests the palates of even the most serious peat freaks. Fuck yeah, Ardbeg.

[SLC] Really delicious.  I’m happy we got this.  If not for an everyday sipper, but for the experience we can share.  It overwhelms the palate a little after a dram.  but it’s extremely satisfying.  It brings a slew of different things to the table, and does what one expects Ardbeg to do: smoke and sweetness balanced nicely.

Other Opinions:

Not beloved, but certainly thoroughly enjoyed across the board; most notes include a vanilla sweet element, an earthy element, and some spices, citing less maritime flavours with bigger, sweeter peat than other Ardbegs.

• John Hansell appreciates the earthy, espresso notes, the building, “lava-like crescendo” of peat on the palate, the balanced underbelly of vanilla sweetness, etc.
• Ruben at WhiskyNotes gets the earthy espresso flavours like John, and the salt and pepper (like me), noting this as “less extreme” than presumed.
• Master of Malt gets lots of spices, among other things.  He suggests you “build up” to it with some other Ardbegs, first.  Good call.
• Matt at WFE informs us that this NAS is essentially an 8 year old bottling, and likes the cereal malt, vanilla, spices, and–wait for it– the peat.