A very highly sought after Ardbeg, distilled 1976.

Samaroli is perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), he is regarded by many as a visionary. Many of his bottles now occupy deserved sports in pantheon of whisky greats.

This bottling was bottled for Samaroli in Scotland by R.W. Duthie & Co. in 1993, and is the final addition to his Ardbge series. Almost unbelievably, Samaroli reportedly had great difficulty selling the first release in this series, the 1974 vintage from 1983. It was not until a few years later that demand for the peaty flavours began to increase in Italy.

This is one of the final bottlings from Samaroli's partnership with R.W. Duthie, who had to stop working with him in the early 1990s due to increasing demand from their other client, Cadenhead's.

Colour: straw. Nose: ah, now we’re talking! It’s not yet an overly expressive one but we certainly get more aromas, such as ripe pears (beurrée hardy), liquorice, orange juice, melon, hints of cologne, camphor and eucalyptus leaves… Little peat again, that is. Mouth: creamy, almost thick, probably more balanced and less raw than the Cadenhead. Yet, it’s powerful, superbly lemony (drops), compact… Lots of orange marmalade, herb liqueur, fir honey, grilled Japanese tea (Hochicha)… The finish is a little sweeter but nicely orangey and bitter (err, just like bitter oranges). Excellent, very satisfying even if it’s not really complex