So, we got hit by a blizzard this weekend. 23 inches fell in the City of Boston and although it looked beautiful from the comfort of our home, digging the car out was not fun. What cures all things freezing? A nice Smoky Islay whisky. This bottle was a gift we got for our wedding from our great friends Matt and Sarah.

Traigh Bhan (pronounced tri-van) is a beach in Islay known locally as Singing Sands. Ardbeg will be releasing this small batch every year and will be differentiated by the unique batch number.

TB: Traigh Bahn; 02: Batch number; 18.09.00: the date indicating the age of theyoungest spirit distilled each year; JT: Distillery member who helped createthe bottling for that year. Distillery Visitor Centre Manager, Jackie Thomson.

Nose: lime, wood smoke and sweetness
Palate: salt, peat, aniseed, pepper, and light sweetness
Finish: long, peat smoke and sweetness
Cask: American Oak and Olorosso Sherry

If you love Ardbeg in general you are going to love this. This is a peat smoke lover’s dream. You even get a warm hug just by taking a whiff of the bottle. The aromas of lime and smoke are absolutely welcoming. What’s even better, no burn and although you get hit with that smoke, you also get hit with amazing sweetness. It’s absolutely the perfect balance.

This whisky hugged me in every way possible and I’m in love. I don’t know if you’ll be able to find this bottling but if you do my gosh it’s delicious. I now wish we had two bottles.

Cheers!

Note: The contents on my blog are solely my opinion. To me every palate is different! Although I may or may not like a product, I always recommend for people to try it and make up their own minds.