Ardbeg ‘An Oa’

Bought: Waitrose, 17^th February 2018

Ratings:
84.06/100 – Whiskybase (average from 390 member votes)
8/10 – Whisky Wednesday (video review below)

In September 2017 Ardbeg released the ‘An Oa’ named after a peninsular on the island of Islay. It’s the first bottle since 2009 to be added to the distillery’s core range, which include the Corryvreckan, Uigeadail and the ‘TEN’ 10yo. It may be yet another NAS (no age statement) from Ardbeg but at least it packs a punch at 46.6%. The An Oa is a vatting together of different cask types – ex-bourbon, Pedro Ximénez and virgin oak, so nothing especially unusual there. But you wouldn’t expect anything too experimental in the recipe when creating a regular release from the distillery.

It’s been 8 months since the launch of An Oa and reviews suggest it’s doing OK but just ‘OK’. Over 84/100 on Whiskybase is a very good mark but it’s lagging behind its core range family members. Their Whiskybase averages are:

• 88.5/100 – Corryvreckan (from 1735 votes)
• 89.19/100 – Uigeadail (from 2893 votes)
• 86.34/100 – ‘TEN’, 10-year-old (from 2922 votes)

Comments online about the An Oa include, “better than other standard editions right now but it is not great and rather average”, “truly epic whisky”, “unbalanced dram, PX and Virgin oak are fighting”, “I’ve been an Ardbeg lover for many years and this is a truly worthy addition to the family”.

The An Oa has its fans but at the same time there’s no guarantee that an existing Ardbeg fan will take to this youthful new upstart. On Master of Malt, where the An Oa scores 4/5 stars from 37 votes, the comments blow very hot and cold. Some people love it and others say it’s “barely drinkable”. It may cost more than the ‘TEN’ and score less than the 10yo in reviews but it’s still an Ardbeg so it will sell regardless of opinions.

Here’s Whisky Wednesday with their thoughts about the Ardbeg ‘An Oa’ on YouTube (Oct 2017), which they score an impressive 8/10:

Macallan ‘Sienna’

Bought: Amazon, 15^th December 2017

Ratings:
94.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2018
85/100 – Serge Valentin of Whisky Fun
84.11/100 – Whiskybase (average from 365 member votes)
8/10 – Whisky Wednesday (video review below)

From everything I’ve heard about the Macallan ‘colour’ range (Gold, Amber, Sienna and Ruby), the Sienna is considered to be the best. In 2017 it was announced that the colour range would be discontinued so I made sure I picked up a bottle of Sienna. The Ruby is the investment, the Gold is the simple sipper, the Sienna is for savouring and the Amber is for cleaning the drains (I’m joking! I’m joking! It’s for deicing the car).

Jim Murray, author of the ‘Whisky Bible’, certainly rates the Sienna. His score of 94.5/100 classifies this dram as a ‘superstar whisky that gives us all a reason to live’. He scores the Ruby 92.5/100, the Gold gets 89.5/100 and the Amber a rather lacklustre 78/100. Mr Murray gives the taste element of the Sienna 24/25 with the comment “soothing texture with the barley bringing forward enough juice to the soft oil to give extra complexity; easy going to the point of falling backwards off its chair, the barley gives way eventually to a gorgeous ulmo honey, vanilla and butterscotch middle”. He summarises with “a huge and pleasing improvement [on a pre-bottling sample Jim tasted]”.

Scoring just over 84/100 on Whiskybase is a very good mark with comments of “A pleasantly surprising dram! Well-balanced with no sherry overload.” And “A much better dram that its two siblings and actually probably better than recent sherry 12s”.

Serge Valentin of Whisky Fun scores a recent (c.2017) sample of Sienna a very good 85/100 but adds, “isn’t this vatting younger on average than earlier batches? I was having Sienna at no less than 90/100, but that just can’t be this time.” It’s a pity that Serge feels the standard of the Sienna was slipping but perhaps that was one of the reasons Macallan decided to call it a day on the colour range. Time for a new adventure, or should that be ‘quest’?

Tasting notes from Master of Malt:

Nose: Noticeably bigger than Gold and Amber, orange peel, vanilla sugar and hot cross buns.
Palate: Raisins and dried apricots, ripe greengages, frozen currants.
Finish: Fruity and slightly spiced with a touch of anise.

Here’s Jo of Whisky Wednesday with his thoughts about the Macallan ‘Sienna’ on YouTube (Nov 2015), which he scores an excellent 8/10:

Springbank 15-year-old

Bought: Cadenhead, 5^th December 2017

Ratings:
88.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2018
87.85/100 – Whiskybase (average from 89 member votes)

In 2015 I contacted Springbank distillery about paying £50 to become a life member of their ‘Springbank Society’. I’d get a badge, t-shirt and an opportunity to buy two special bottles per year, exclusive to society members. In the end I didn’t join because the online forum for Springbank members disappeared and the distillery was having a website meltdown. They make great whisky but my confidence in their Internet ability was in tatters. Since then I can’t say I’ve seen a ‘society only’ bottle of Springbank appear at auction so I’ve no idea if they got produced.

The basic Springbank 10yo and the cask strength 12yo are so good it’s taken me 5 years on my whisky journey before getting the 15yo. Clearly I didn’t need any ‘special releases’ for society members because the standard releases are more than enough for me. I decided to get the 15yo because several people on whisky forums said it was their favourite dram and I hadn’t bought a Springbank for a while. With a score of nearly 88/100 on Whiskybase this is clearly a fantastic 15yo. Comments include “very tasty” and “a big whisky with big flavours”. Other remarks online include “top of the line if you like sherry matured” and “refined and full of Campbeltown character”. What more can you ask for?

Jim Murray’s score of 88.5/100 in his Whisky Bible dates back to 2012 so you can take that with a pinch of salt. A review on Whiskybase says this latest version (tasted in 2018) is better than a previous version they tried a few years ago so perhaps Mr Murray would score it in the 90s now.

Tasting notes from Master of Malt:

Nose: Fragrant with a certain richness. Notes of fruit salad and a hint of caramel, pineapple, guava and passion fruit lurk. There are notes of dried leather and old ropes. A hint of toffee sweetness and some granary toast.
Palate: Quite full and rich. There are notes of creamy fruit salad and more exotic fruit notes. There is palpable mastication from the oaked tannins with a hint of spice.
Finish: Fairly long with a gentle warmth.

Here’s Horst & Benedikt Luening of Whisky.com with their thoughts about the Springbank 15yo on YouTube (May 2017):