Ardbeg Heavy Vapours Whisky Review!

My first taste of the 2023 Feis Ile release; a "de-purified" Ardbeg. This another two-for-one review; featuring both the standard boxed release at 46% and the "naked" Committee Release at 50.2%. 

I'm trying to avoid being too negative and cynical here, but Ardbeg are trying to fix what most definitely was NOT broken with some of their recent limited releases. They've been mucking around with fermentation times, heavily roasted barley, and now the stills themselves, instead of just giving us a cask strength 10-year old or sticking to their tried & tested formula of different cask types married with "regular" ex-bourbon casks. Alongside Laphroaig, Ardbeg basically pioneered releasing widely available bottlings for the Islay Festival / Feis Ile. That started way back in 2012 with the first Ardbeg Day release, at a time when the other distilleries were still doing very small batches or even single casks that were only available from the physical distillery shops during the festival. Before anyone shouts "what about El Diablo and Alligator?" from the rooftops, they only released 1,200 bottles of the former PX-matured rarity in 2011 compared to 12,000 bottles of Ardbeg Day the following year, and while Alligator was fantastic it wasn't a Feis Ile / Ardbeg Day bottling. The other distilleries have mostly caught up on this act since, although most releases are still only available from their own shops and/or websites, while Ardbeg continue to ship their commemorative release to selected countries all over the world. Most of the Ardbeg Day / Feis Ile releases have been variations on a basic theme, featuring their regular spirit either partly matured or finished in some exotic type of cask, ranging from manzanilla sherry to rum. The ABVs continue to drop every year, but availability has improved, although pricing has increased substantially. That's the case with any distillery over that timespan, though. Lately Ardbeg seem to be focussing on more "experimental" whiskies that have been altered at the early stages of production rather than only in the final stage (maturation). You could argue that they've been doing this sort of thing for a while, from the unpeated Blasda to the super-heavily peated Supernova, but those were merely changes of peating levels on the malted barley and/or the source of that barley, rather than significant changes to the production of the spirit itself.

Which (finally) brings me to my point. 2023's Feis Ile / Ardbeg Day release, 'Heavy Vapours', has done just that. Ardbeg's main point of difference among the Islay distilleries - particularly both neighbours - has always started in its production regimen. Aside from more technical things like still sizes & fill levels, lyne arm angles, and spirit cut points, there are two main points of difference in their spirit production process. First is the partially-longer fermentation made necessary by the 23,500-litre washbacks which aren't matched / balanced to the size of the wash still, which has a capacity of 18,000-litres but is filled to 11,000 litres. So half of each batch of wash stays in the fermenter / washback while the other half goes through its first distillation. Prior to their recent expansion Ardbeg only had a single pair of stills, so this choke point was unavoidable, but they haven't said whether this partial-extra fermentation still takes place post-expansion where they now have two pairs of stills and have effectively doubled their production capacity. We won't see the results from this expansion for a few years yet, but I would hope that they've just increased production while keeping these quirks in place. The second and perhaps more important point of difference at Ardbeg is in the spirit still/s. Both the old and new spirit stills are fitted with purifiers, which are small copper drums that are attached to the lyne arms. The idea here is that heavier vapours travelling along (in this case, up) the lyne arm/s will be "caught" in this purifier which then channels them back into the body or neck of the stills for re-distillation, which in theory - all other things being equal - results in a lighter spirit. While plenty of other Scotch whisky distilleries use purifiers Ardbeg is the only one on Islay, and this is believed to be the main reason that Ardbeg's spirit profile is something of a contradiction, being balanced between heavy, oily & peaty, and relatively light, fruity & sweet. This is still a heavily peated southern Islay malt, using 55 ppm malted barley, but it's not as heavy as it could be if these two things, the partial extra fermentation and the purifier on the spirit still/s, didn't happen. 

As you've probably guessed by the name, for this year's Feis Ile release Ardbeg have blocked off that purifier, theoretically allowing those heavier vapours to travel up the lyne arm into the condenser to become spirit. So unlike the lacklustre Fermutation release which was basically an attempt to salvage the results of an accident, Heavy Vapours was created purposefully. More of a "what if?" than a "what now?". I'm trying to keep an open mind here, and an experimental heavier, thicker Ardbeg sounds promising on paper. But that purifier is there for a reason, and it's a crucial part of what makes Ardbeg Ardbeg. You don't see Bruichladdich cutting their still necks in half to see what would happen, and you don't see Lagavulin fitting a reflux onion / boil ball to their still necks to see what would happen. But Ardbeg have never been afraid to muck with things, and this time they've targeted the purifier. In theory this change would also allow more sulphur and more phenols to get through to the new make spirit. Aside from this change in production we don't have a lot of other information on this whisky, other than a quote from Bill Lumsden stating that this experiment was only done once, twelve years ago. So we can assume that Heavy Vapours is around 10-11 years old. We don't know what casks they've used, we only know that the purifier wasn't used, and that the two versions - the standard release at 46% ABV and the Committee Release at 50.2% ABV - haven't been chill filtered. That's all she wrote. The marketing department did have time & space to include some bullshit about "Agent 46", which is something to do with the ridiculous web comic that they're trying (and failing) to get us all to read. Seriously, Ardbeg marketing department, it's not going to happen! That space could be put to much better use - even by leaving it blank...

Just like my previous Ardbeg review, the more recent 'Ardbeg Anthology Harpy's Tale', Heavy Vapours is still readily available in Australia, in both of its iterations. Which is unusual compared to a few years ago, but not unexpected. At the time of writing, on top of Tales of the Harpy and BizzarreBQ and another overpriced batch of Traigh Bhan, Ardbeg have just released another special release, Anamorphic. Which many people, quite rightly, don't seem to give a shit about. Moving right along, we'll do the boxed general release version first, then the "naked" committee release at the higher strength. 

Ardbeg Heavy Vapours, NAS, 46%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled without using the purifier on the spirit still, rumoured to be around 11-years old. Non-chill filtered, assumed natural colour. 

Colour: Very, very pale gold.

Nose: Immediately very young. Hot tar & bitumen, hot industrial plastics, burning leafy & woody herbs. Aniseed jube lollies (not liquorice, the clear aniseed jellies/jubes), some old natural rope, and chunky, earthy, muddy peat. Freshly chopped red chillies, and a little under-ripe pineapple.  

Texture: Medium-heavy weight. Quite oily, & viscous. Peaty & youthful. Touch of heat but the viscosity carries it well.

Taste: Big oily & chunky peatiness, industrial & slightly muddy. Hot tar & bitumen again, more red chillies but they're dried this time rather than fresh. There's a syrupy sugary sweetness to it, and it's entirely from the spirit itself rather than any cask influence (which is almost non-existent). Sharp lime juice and canvas / hessian sacking heading to the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Still considerably peaty, still raw & industrial. Hot industrial plastics, burning herbs, thick oily & dank peat. Black pepper, lemon oil, and a little cardboard. Throw a couple of Szechuan peppercorns in there too. 

Score: 3 out of 5. 

Notes: Not sure I believe that unofficial quote about this being 11-years old. Older than Wee Beastie yes, but I'd say 8-years old, or maybe 7. Those of us who tasted Ardbeg Very Young, Still Young and Almost There back in the day will know that there's absolutely nothing wrong with young Ardbeg on paper, but unlike those early releases Heavy Vapours has seemingly spent all of that time in very tired, very inactive refill casks. Third or fourth fill hogsheads at a guess. Which I suppose is fine by me, including active casks in the mix would potentially hide the difference that deleting that purifier has made. Thankfully the heavier, oilier peatiness and more viscous texture carries the youthfulness nicely here. I'd put the peat levels on par with some of the later 2014-on Supernova bottlings (not the originals from 2009 & 2010), but in terms of character there's a rather different peatiness to Heavy Vapours. That lime juice, black pepper, tar, and old rope is all very Ardbeg spirit, but it does definitely feel heavier, peatier, and more viscous. That could be because it's an entirely spirit driven whisky, which is not a criticism provided there's enough maturity and texture alongside, which I think there is in this case. Just. Fans of Lagavulin 8-year old will find this familiar, just with a little less depth and complexity in comparison. Only peat lovers need apply, and even then you may need to be in the mood. But I'm enjoying this one more than I expected to!

Right, on to the big one; the Committee Release at 50.2%. As usual, this one was a similar price to the regular version at the lower strength, and doesn't come with a box. Gone are the days when the committee releases were bottled at cask strength, the gap between the two versions seems to get closer every year. They're also sold at regular retailers these days, rather than only from the Committee website and promptly selling out. In theory this higher strength version should be heavier and oilier than the regular Heavy Vapours at 46%. But there's only one way to find out...

Ardbeg Heavy Vapours Committee Release, NAS, 50.2%. Islay, Scotland.

As above. 

Colour: Very pale gold again. No difference to my eyes.

Nose: Bigger & punchier, still very youthful and raw, if not more so than the 46%-er. More red chillies, plus some clove oil, and industrial hot plastics. Syrupy sweetness but it's also floral - which is unexpected. Disinfectant, tar, warm gravel & sand. Black pepper, and chunky, earthy peat that is drier & more vegetal. 

Texture: Medium weight. Raw and punchy, a bit of a bruiser. Rougher and hotter, but not overly so. 

Taste: Big peppery, jagged entry. Definitely sweeter than the 46% version, a syrupy floral sweetness, with more clove and lemon oils as well. Dry earthy peat, with more roots & plant matter to it. A little under-ripe banana behind all that. 

Finish: Medium length. Szechuan peppercorns & clove oil, bitter woody herbs, a little powdered aniseed and more hot plastic. Boiled root vegetables, flash of something a little metallic too. Touch of cheap cooking chocolate. 

Score: 2.5 out of 5. And only just. 

Notes: Fascinating that it feels both sweeter and more floral than the 46%-er, and also less peaty. That's not what most would expect from a higher ABV version of the same whisky, where that peatiness is hidden behind a higher ABV. But it certainly can happen with oily, peaty, spirit-driven whiskies. Also with some peated new make spirits for that matter, where water is needed to bring the phenolics out. The committee release version certainly feels younger and more raw & jagged than the 46%, which I suppose could be expected. While the standard version will appeal to fans of Lagavulin 8-year old, this 50.2% committee release is catering more to mezcal fans. Particularly the unaged, dirty, and industrial mezcals. Maybe the Committee Release is just too young, at least to my tastes. The 46% standard bottling is notably superior in my book. There's only been one previous instance where I've preferred the 46% version of an Ardbeg Day / Feis Ile release to the higher ABV Committee Release - which was back in 2017 with Ardbeg Kelpie. Unfortunately the 46% version of Heavy Vapours isn't any cheaper than the committee one, and it's also less "collectable". But if you're planning on drinking it, don't chase the higher strength this time. No, I didn't expect to be saying that either!

The "bigger picture" point to consider here is that Lagavulin 8-year old is half the price of both of these Ardbegs, and it's bottled at 48% rather than the 46% of the standard version of Heavy Vapours. Which is why I still say that Ardbeg shouldn't be trying to fix what isn't broken, obscuring their distillery's points of difference in the process - if we want a heavier, oilier, peatier & less fruity version of Ardbeg, then we'll just buy Lagavulin! Like most of the good distilleries Ardbeg's spirit character is unique, with the almost-contradictory bright & fruity sweetness that balances the oily & maritime peatiness. But if you do away with most of the former points and boost up the latter points, I'd say you're starting to emulate some of your competitors. I like an experiment as much as the next whisky geek, but I'll be glad if this experimental Ardbeg is only a one-off. Stick to the tried & true formula Ardbeg, it's why we love you!

Cheers!