Ardbeg tasting

Regional wines tasting for Feb was Ardbeg, to be honest I was in two minds whether I'd go. Sometimes I love the Still Young, but at times I don't, it seems to depend on what I'm drinking otherwise, or who I'm drinking with. And that's not just me, Nick's said the same. Although we've both found strong blue cheese and Ardbeg work well.

So the tasting:
Blasda 40% lightly peated 8ppm What, a lightly peated Ardbeg? How could they? Nose was creamy, sweet, peaty (ish) and hints of banana, Palate: spicy, creamy; Finish: sweet, marmalade, hint of smoke, medium length. 7/10
Very Young 58.3% 1998-2004 no chill filter the 6yo expression from the new distillery. Nose: phenol, musty, ash, oranges, honey; Palate: ash, salt, tingly; Finish: long and salty, creamy, 8/10
Almost there 1998-2007 54.1% I've tried this before and didn't like it much, it lost the vibe of the Very Young and the Still Young, so Nose: slight salt, caramel, bubblegum?; Palate: ash, salt, turps; Finish: ash, smoke 7/10
Renaissance 10yo 55.9% 1998-2008 no chill filter the 10yo expression from the new distillery. Nose: caramel, mild, toffee, bit of age; Palate: kinda empty, hint of smoke?; Finish: hot sweet, phenol, salt, mid length 6/10
The Ultimate 10yo 46% no chill filter this is the standard shop 10yo expression, replacing the old standard 10yo. Nose: salty, phenol, big, metallic (not in a good way), caramel; Palate: hot, chilli, salt; finish: chilli, hot, salt, short length 6/10
Airigh Nam Beist 1990 46% no chill filter `shelter of the beast` Nose: banana, sweet, thick toffee, almost highland like; Palate: butter, sweet; Finish: not much, quite bland 6.5/10
Still Young 56.2% 1998-2006 no chill filter the 8yo expression. I've got a bottle of this, and it varies on what's going with it. This time: Nose: phenol, bananas, ash, sweet, salt, cream; Palate: Overall, a disappointment. People rave about Ardbeg, but aside from the Still Young, I've never been hooked. Give me a Bruichladdich or Port Charlotte anyday. But then I'm not a huge Islay fan, I prefer the highlands (generally).
I think what annoys me the most is that the Still Young and Very Young promised a lot, which started to go in the Almost There, and disappeared in the new 10yo Rennaissance. I guess it supports the theory Islay malts should be young, but why then do most of them offer an aged version? In Ardbeg's defence the new expressions are from a new distillery, but they do have old stock to play with. It's worth keeping an eye on them, but there are others I'd care more about.

Next month's looks good tho, very interesting line-up. Oh damn, I think I need a dram now. Oh well.

me x