Ardbeg Fermutation Whisky Review!

An age statement Ardbeg Committee Release that was fermented for over three weeks prior to distillation, rather than the distillery's average of 72 hours. This should be interesting! But a word of warning first; this is going to be a long one, and we're going to get nerdy!

Where the magic happens: wooden washback at Ardbeg. 

The fermentation stage of whisky production doesn't get the praise or attention that it deserves. Without it, there'd be no alcohol to capture & concentrate by distillation, so there'd be no whisky, but this is also where a large part of the flavour is created. We've all heard that to make whisky you first make beer, but malt whisky wash isn't boiled like beer, and there aren't any hops involved - if you're following the SWA regulations, at least. But there's so much more to it, including a huge amount of science, a decent serving of tradition, and a small amount of magic. And it's almost entirely thanks to microorganisms. Yeast of course, but also bacteria, among others. That doesn't sound so romantic, but it's a key part of the flavour development that really starts a step earlier in the process, with the mashing. Here the freshly-milled malted barley is mixed with hot water where the natural enzymes present in the grain are activated and then go to work starting to convert some of the grain's starch content into fermentable sugars. Side note here - the Scotch whisky regulations do not allow the addition of commercial enzymes. But many other spirits industries do, although they don't shout about it because it's adding an artificial ingredient to the process. Why do those other industries do it? It boils down (pun intended) to efficiency, consistency and yield. These enzymes are why many grain whisky / whiskey - including bourbon - distilleries include some malted barley and/or other malted grains in their mash bills, gaining flavour at the same time. If a commercial distillery does not have any malted grains in their mash bill, e.g. a 100% corn or 100% wheat mash bill, then they're probably adding commercial (artificial / synthetic) enzymes.

Getting back on track, once those fermentable sugars are ready to go after the mashing stage, the distillery's preferred yeast is added to the sweet liquid now known as wort, and the yeast consumes those sugars creating alcohol (among other things), subsequently giving us the "distiller's beer" that is known as wash. A few of the smaller malt whisky distilleries such as Kilchoman and Dornoch are playing around with different yeast strains these days in search of different flavours, rather than sticking to the common & safer 'M' strain distiller's yeasts for the sake of consistency & yield. Even Diageo have dabbled with different yeast strains on a trial basis, and Ardbeg's sister distillery Glenmorangie have cultivated a wild yeast strain that was found growing on their local barley, using it to create 2019's private edition release, named Allta, meaning "wild". There are also a few distilleries using ale / brewer's yeast in combination with distiller's yeast, while at least one is using wine yeast - Loch Lomond - and it's all in search of finding different flavours. But Ardbeg haven't played with their yeast strains for this "Fermutation" release, and this whisky was something of an accident. When the distillery's boiler broke down back in 2007, the production team was left with thousands of litres of wash sitting in their wooden washbacks for far longer than usual - over three weeks in fact. 'Regular' Ardbeg is fermented for an average of 72 hours, which in Scotch whisky terms is considered a medium-length fermentation. 75 hours and longer is considered to be a long fermentation, with very few whisky distilleries in Scotland ferment for longer than 120 hours - although many of the "new world" producers are. So three weeks is a very long time in this industry, and is more often seen in high ester rums or other spirits rather than whisky. Is this going to make Fermutation "better" than the normal Ardbeg? No. But it's certainly going to make it different to the normal Ardbeg! 

Not a galaxy far, far away: the warm, busy, foamy darkness inside said washback!

The standard average fermentation times at Islay's nine distilleries vary from a minimum of 48 hours at Bowmore to over 85 hours at Kilchoman, although it's not an exact science and many will often go over their minimum times when necessary, generally up to 120 hours. Back in the days when 5-day weeks were more common at distilleries, almost all of them would leave each weeks' final washback charge to ferment for an extra two days while they were closed for the weekend! In general, the longer your fermentation time, the less fermentable sugasr - primarily maltose in our case - remain in the wash as the yeast runs out of food and begins to break down as the temperature and alcohol levels rise, and the oxygen level lowers, resulting in an increase in acidity as the yeast fights a losing battle against both the alcohol that it unintentionally created, and more importantly against a 'foreign invader': bacteria. 

While the yeast has done its thing during the earlier stages of the fermentation, around the 60-hour stage it has started to lose ground - which is around where most Scotch whisky distilleries stop fermentation - and by the 70-hour mark lactic acid bacteria becomes the dominant player. And that's particularly important for one group of flavour compounds, a.k.a congeners: esters, which are the main source of sweet, fruity & floral flavours in your spirit. While production of esters & other congeners starts during fermentation and continues through distillation and through maturation, it really starts to ramp up where longer fermentation times are used as the bacteria levels in the wash are on the rise and as the yeast breaks down through autolysis. In this case after that three week ferment most if not all of the yeast would be dead, with little to no fermentable sugars remaining, although in some cases wild yeast will have a chance to get in alongside bacteria and fungi. In fact Ardbeg even opened the washback lids during this involuntary extra fermentation time to really get the funky party pumping. Wooden washbacks are thought to help with the creation of esters in the wash since despite regular cleaning they're impossible to sanitise entirely, and there'll always be some microbes remaining in the pores of the wood.

So all things being equal, leaving your wash for 3 weeks rather than your usual average of 72 hours is going to give a much fruitier and probably funkier spirit, mostly thanks to the higher amounts of esters that have been created. Remember though that said bacteria & other microorganisms will largely be killed off during distillation by the heat and by the high alcohol level, and remaining microorganisms including dead yeast will be left behind in the bottom of the stills after distillation, both in the "pot ale" that remains in the wash still, and then in the "spent lees" that remains in the spirit still. The esters & other congeners in the spirit will then change during maturation, and new ones will be added, through interaction with the cask. If I haven't lost you yet - and to be fair I did warn you that we were going to get nerdy - and if you'd like some further reading, I highly recommend delving into the technical goldmine that is Whisky Science. 

Getting back to Ardbeg, the interesting point here is that despite the high peating level (55 ppm as standard) Ardbeg has always been quite a sweet and fruity whisky, and a relatively light one. Which is down to any & all of a myriad of reasons - from the purifier on the spirit still which gives more reflux, to the size, shape & fill level of both stills with their upwards-angled lyne arms which again gives more reflux and a lighter spirit. Another interesting point is that Ardbeg's wash still, with its capacity of 18,000-litres but an actual fill level of around 11,000 litres, can only hold roughly half of the contents of one washback at a time, with each of the six wooden vessels holding up to 23,500-litres of wash. This unbalanced capacity means that the second half of each washback stays there while waiting for its turn in the wash still. Another important factor is the cut points that are used during the distillation runs, which are the times, temperatures & alcohol percentages that mark when the distiller switches from the foreshots (a.k.a. heads) to the spirit cut (a.k.a. hearts) and then the feints (a.k.a. tails). Generally, later cuts where spirit is captured deeper into the feints will give a dirtier, funkier, oilier spirit, while narrower cuts will give a lighter, brighter spirit. We can't forget maturation either, which plays a huge role in flavour development as new congeners are introduced to the spirit from the wood, or as the existing congeners evolve and their levels increase/decrease through that interaction with the wood and the local environment. This is influenced by a huge number of factors such as the size and previous contents of the cask, the number of times it has been used, the storage location and conditions, and of course how long the whisky is allowed to mature for before it's bottled. The number of variables here is basically infinite.

Now let's be honest, most people who buy Ardbeg Fermutation won't really care about any of the above. They'll see that it's a collectable limited release Ardbeg, and that is has a cool green label and a cool name and a new marketing angle, so they'll buy a bottle. And many will then re-sell it, but let's try to ignore that part for now. This release does appeal to the real whisky geeks because of that anomalous fermentation time, but also because it has been matured purely in ex-bourbon casks (both first-fill and refill), it has an age statement of 13-years, and it was bottled at a slightly higher strength of 49.4% ABV - gone are the days when these committee releases were bottled in the mid-to-low 50s, it seems, and the chances of one ever being released at cask strength are basically zero! Now we can't talk about an Ardbeg limited release without talking about pricing. And let's not beat around the bush - this one was definitely on the expensive side: $320 here in Australia, and around £150 GBP in Britain. But it still sold out very quickly, and unfortunately is already being flipped for profit on the usual auction sites. That amount is enough to buy 2.5-bottles of the excellent 8-year old "For Discussion" or two bottles of the core range Uigeadail, so this 13-year old is up against some great expectations. Personally, I went in for a bottle split with four mates, giving us plenty of Fermutation to taste without each of us having to shell out for a full bottle. So let's see what those marvellous little microorganisms have been up to, shall we? 

Ardbeg Fermutation, 13-year old, 49.4%. Islay, Scotland.

Fermented for three weeks rather than the average 72 hours for 'regular' Ardbeg, matured in ex-bourbon barrels (probably first-fill & refill). Non-chill filtered, colouring not declared but likely natural. 8,000 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Fresh, floral & zesty. Watery salted caramel, star anise, seaweed & tar. Floral with herbs, dried lime and freshly cut grass. Touch of buttery vanilla & black pepper. With more time, lemon zest and a touch of dry maltiness. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Floral, zesty, grassy, thin. No heat. 

Taste: More cut grass, thin with runny salted caramel and a light, dry, earthy peat. Dried lemon & orange peel, touch of milk chocolate and star anise. 

Finish: Short-medium length. Yeasty bread dough, new lather, dried herbs & cut grass. Vanilla and a touch of zesty acidity - tart/sharp rather than sour. Slighty soapy & bitter towards the end. 

Score: 3 out of 5. But only just. 

Notes: So, thankfully Fermutation has mutated nicely after plenty of exposure to air. On first & second contact it was thin, sharp, and bitter, even vegetal - and it definitely would've scored lower then. It's still quite thin now though, and Fermutation can't compete with even Ardbeg 10 in terms of richness and character, but a few weeks of air has helped the distillery's coastal character claw back some territory. Mind you it's still light on the peat, and there's no smoke. But the tar, seaweed and black pepper are showing through just a little, where they were non-existent before. The nose is the highlight here, or rather it's the most enjoyable aspect, while the palate and finish are quite the let-down. Is that down to the extra fermentation time? Well I could be wrong, but no, I wouldn't have thought so. I'm thinking most of those ex-bourbon casks were refill rather than first-fill, and that it's been diluted too much. Surely a cask strength / 55%-ish presentation would've helped preserve more of the intensity, richness & character that we look for in an Ardbeg. But maybe it was too similar to the norm at that higher strength, so they watered it down a little more to show more of the differences between it and the core range. As usual, the greatest threat to any Ardbeg limited release is the Ardbeg core range!

Still, this was an interesting accidental/forced experiment and I'm glad to have tried it, but I'm also glad I didn't buy a full bottle on my lonesome. It was certainly too expensive to start with, and I'd advise not paying the secondary prices for this Ardbeg if you're ever planning on opening the bottle. And surprise, surprise, the secondary prices are already silly! Let's hope the new 'Ardcore' fares better than this one. 

Cheers!