Sips & Sites & Bites

A unique release from Ardbeg Islay single malt whisky shows off its sweet and smoky side, and it’s the second release of rare and strange single malts in its Anthology Collection. 

Ardbeg Anthology: The Unicorn’s Tale is Ardbeg’s first whisky matured in a marriage of Madeira wine casks and bourbon casks. Aged for 14 years, the distiller notes that this whisky takes smoky-malt lovers on a journey with its bursts of smoke and notes of banana, menthol, and lime.

Ardbeg’s Anthology Collection is made up of unusual single malts from the Distillery, where the distiller crosses classic Ardbeg with experimental stock for new flavor combinations. 

Each malt’s name and packaging are inspired by a different mythological creature, infamous on the Isle of Islay.

The Unicorn’s Tale blends the tropical sweetness of whisky aged in Madeira casks with Ardbeg’s smoky notes, bringing us a fruity, aromatic, smoky dram. This release comes on the heels of Ardbeg Anthology’s inaugural release, The Harpy’s Tale, which marries classic Ardbeg with the distillery’s first whisky aged in Sauternes sweet white wine casks.

Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s director of whisky creation, said in a recent release, “At Ardbeg we love experimenting with how we can push our spirit’s smoky balance into new worlds of flavor. Some time ago, we decided to try maturing Ardbeg in unusual cask types for the distillery to create sweet and smoky ‘hybrids’– and so the Anthology Collection was born.”

“The Unicorn’s Tale is the second release in this series,” Lumsden continued. “which has been created by marrying classic Ardbeg matured in bourbon casks with a parcel of whisky wholly matured in sweet Madeira wine casks. The outcome is a whisky bursting with notes of banana bread and tropical fruit fused with Ardbeg’s hallmark flavors of camphor, lime zest, and wood smoke. This 14-year-old whisky may appear sweet in nature, but its smoky side is not to be underestimated,”

Ardbeg Anthology: The Unicorn’s Tale clocks in at 46% ABV and is available for purchase on ReserveBar.com and at select Wine & Spirits retailers across the country for a suggested price of $159.99.