Whisky name: Traigh Bhan, 19yr old, Batch 7
Distillery: Ardbeg
Region: Islay
Age / Release: 19 years
ABV: 50.3%
Price range: £230
Hot take:
The rare splurge that earns every pound: 19 years have turned Ardbeg’s peat to embers (soft, cuddle-worthy smoke) wrapped in lemon-sherbet brightness, vanilla warmth and a silk-smooth finish. It's a proper “cuddle this bottle” dram.
Tasting Notes + Scoring Grid
Flavour chemistry breakdown
Production notes
Small-batch Ardbeg at its most civilised. Batch 7 of Traigh Bhàn is a 19-year vatting of ex-bourbon and oloroso sherry casks. Ardbeg keeps the malt’s phenol level consistent across expressions, but time does its quiet magic: 19 years lets a good chunk of those phenolics soften and some even bind to the cask char, so the smoke whispers rather than shouts. And their purifiers produce a more refine new make spirit. Label notes nod to lemon peel, coal dust, mint/eucalyptus, and a lick of salted toffee…and for once the poetry matches the glass.
Context + commentary
Like many peated expressions, Ardbeg uses green bottles because of the prejudice toward a light dram. But remember, a light liquid does not mean a dull one; in fact, maturation in an ex-bourbon cask allows other, more subtle elements to shine.
Food pairing: lean into the citrus-smoke duet. Lemon tart or posset works a dream; alternatively, salted-caramel dark chocolate lets the toffee and ash hold hands.
Companion dram: pour Ardbeg Uigeadail alongside. It's the house style turned up (bigger sherry, bigger peat), which makes Traigh Bhàn’s age-softened elegance even more obvious.
Cultural note: Ardbeg very nearly met the wrecking ball in the 1990s. Fast-forward and it’s a cult Islay classic with headline “committee” releases. Traigh Bhàn is the counter-argument to the hype: less theatre, more mastery.
Score / Verdict
Score: 95/100
Verdict: bonfire embers, lemon sherbet, vanilla hush..it’s a mellow-peat lullaby you’ll want to nurse by the fire and (begrudgingly) share.
P.S.
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