Ardbeg...we've featured them once or twice (*cough*) on this blog, and gushed (jusifiably so) over their brilliantly-run events, their stunning releases and of course their absolutely fantastic whisky.
Moet Hennessy Australia, and their PR company EVH PR have a knack for knocking it out of the park when it comes to new Ardbeg releases in Australia, so when a familiar black bag arrived on the door step last week, I was understandably excited.
Could it be...a sample of the new (yet to be released) 2014 Supernova we've been hearing so much about?
It could indeed:
This new 2014 release celebrates a few things. Firstly, it sees the return of Ardbeg's "Supernova" after a four year absence (the original, released in 2009, was so popular with Committee members that it was brought back in 2010). Secondly, it coincides perfectly with the return of Ardbeg's ground-breaking space experiment launched in 2011.
After 1,045 days in space, that now-famous vial of Ardbeg sent into space in 2011 has returned, and is ready to be re-united with its "control sample" (an identical vial which has been housed at the distillery's No.3 Warehouse). Dr Bill Lumsden, along with a team of scientists in Houston, Texas will analyse the samples to determine the impact gravity has on whisky maturation. A white paper on the subject is due in 2015 and will no doubt prove very interesting reading.
The "one small step for man, one giant leap for whisky"-style comments will be inevitable, but the fact remains this is a pretty fascinating experiment, and one which could shed some new light on the maturation project. I for one can't wait.
Now, back to the 2014 Supernova, or "SN2014". Bottled at 55% (down from the respective 58.9% and 60.1% of "SN2009" and "SN2010"), the SN2014 is set to retain a similar level of peatiness to the previous releases, adding in citrus, smoke, peppermint and medicinal notes.
We'll of course be tasting it ourselves and giving you our personal notes (despite the frankly ridiculous prices these minis are fetching at the moment, we'll most definitely be opening and consuming it - as that's why it was sent to us), but that will be in mid October. As an added bonus though, we'll post up tasting notes on SN2009 too (which we found recently at a bar in Hong Kong).
The new 2014 Supernova will be released in December 2014 in Australia with an RRP of $240AUD. Sign up for notifications (and buy it) through the Moet Hennessy Collection.
Cheers,
Martin.
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