Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist

Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist

Nose: First up is wet moss with ocean misting over you. A bag of salted pretzels opens up, plus some toasty caramel syrup and traditionally glazed donuts. Whole toasted coriander lightly crushed in a mortar and pestle as well as some dried lavender and the bright citrusy pop of spruce tips pop off like a laser light show. The nose alone is...

Score 97/100

Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist

My local whisky haunt just revised and expanded on a menu that was severely outdated and as it turns out, an Ardbeg that was previously listed as simply "Ardbeg 1990" turns out to actually be the Airigh Nam Beist--a malt that I've been hoping to find since I tried my first Uigeadail. And all the while... it's been right here unbeknownst...

Score 90/100

Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist

The bottle lists this whisky as distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2008 Nose: Moderate peat, some medicinal smell, grapes, lemon, melissa balm, hysop, carnation Taste: wine flavour, peat, lemon, melissa, salt. The flavours are more robust in the mouth than in the nose, and form a nice coherent package Finish: long, but quickly becoming very gentle...

Score 93/100

Ardbeg 1990 Airigh Nam Beist

I won't bother with tasting notes, since very few people can secure a bottle of The Beast. Here are my impressions of the last glass I tasted (about two weeks ago): Nose utterly fantastical and nearly otherworldly. I couldn't stop myself from nosing it, inhaling almost as if I were "huffing" some sort of illegal drug. There is a deeper,...

Score 92/100