Ardbeg 19 y.o. - Traigh Bhan - Batch 5

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 46.2% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Traigh Bhan Batch 5 was distilled on 12 February 2004 and matured for 19 years in a combination of American oak and Oloroso sherry casks. Ardbeg bottled the whisky in 2023 under batch code TB/05-12.02.2004/23 at 46.2%. It is non-chill-filtered and contains no added colouring.

Batch 5 combines smoked mango and guava with green pepper, smoked bacon with maple syrup and soot. Aniseed, burnt heather and spicy chives deepen its herbal and spicy character, while warm toffee fudge and smoked butter shape the long finish.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, lush tropical fruit mingles with herbal incense and smoke. A menthol lozenge and saddle soap lie over charred green pepper, followed by smoked mango, guava and coconut.
• Palate: The whisky is creamy, herbal and spicy on the palate. Smoked bacon with maple syrup, charcoal, white pepper and clove sit alongside woodsmoke and sea spray.
• Finish: The finish is long, bringing further tropical notes, fragrant heather, warm toffee and smoked butter.

Distillery/Bottler:

Traigh Bhan is Ardbeg’s annual range of 19-year-old small-batch releases. It takes its name from Traigh Bhan, the Islay beach known as the “Singing Sands”. Herbs, fennel, citrus and smoke are recurring features of the range, whose character changes subtly with each annual release. Ardbeg distilled the whisky for Batch 5 and released it as an official bottling.

Ardbeg Distillery was established in 1815. Following its second closure in 1991, it resumed full-time production under the Glenmorangie Company in 1997. The distillery uses heavily peated malt to create its pronounced smoky style. A purifier on the still’s lyne arm returns heavier vapours for redistillation. The resulting additional copper contact and reflux help balance fruity, floral and sweet impressions with the smoke.

Facts: