Islay-based distillery Ardbeg are no strangers to experimentation and new bottlings. Every year on Ardbeg Day they dispense a limited edition release to their fervent fans around the world. Additions to their core range, however, are fewer and much more measured. The Wee Beastie 5 Year Old is the newest and feistiest of these permanent extensions.
Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and Oloroso casks, this Ardbeg sports a younger age statement than many other whisky distilleries would be brave enough to put so prominently on the bottle. But, as Ardbeggians everywhere will no doubt suspect, this is a rare beast in that the relative youth here is heavily tied into what makes each dram of the Wee Beastie so special.
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Longtime fans will remember the limited edition releases from the early 2000s – the Very Young, Still Young and Almost There – that tracked Ardbeg bottlings at increasingly older ages and culminating in the 10 Year Old. In addition to giving whisky lovers a look at the evolution of a style, these releases also highlighted that much of what Ardbeg is famous for – smoke and peat in delicious harmony – are heavily on display in their younger whiskies in particular.
The Wee Beastie, bottled at 47.4% ABV, lives up to this lineage and then some. Legendary director of whisky creation at Ardbeg, Dr Bill Lumsden, characterises the whisky as ‘tongue-tingling,’ and notes his certainty that it will prove popular for either ‘enjoying neat or as the mouth-watering main ingredient in a powerfully smoky cocktail.’