Ardbeg

I got a bottle of this relatively pale whiskey for Christmas and have been trying to make up my mind about it ever since.

It's not as to whether or not it's good I'm confused - I like it a lot, that's for sure.

But...

...it seems to me this is some sort of chameleon whiskey, changing it's character from time to time. Sounds odd? Well, it is.

I have this memory - surprisingly clear as it is - of one night a few years back that I was out with friends, tasting different whiskeys during the night. One of the later ones we had was Ardbeg, and I distinctly remember being surprised at how pungently smoky the taste was after having smelled it and found the nose.. well, fairly dull.

But when I first smelled this bottle (i.e. on a day I hadn't had any whiskey yet) it did smell smoky. But the smoky notes in the nose are so faint that even after the first sip (of this or other whiskeys), I can't detect them any longer. This is in sharp contrast to certain other strongly smoky whiskeys that I like.

The result is the funny effect as just mentioned. Or maybe it's just my nose that's too flaky.