Lite nyheter från John Hansell:
Ardbeg Alligator (and the "Son of Alligator") Welcome to what is now becoming an annual occurrence: a new Ardbeg release. Last year it was Rollercoaster. This year, it's Ardbeg Alligator. Why the name Alligator? Well, a portion of the whisky was aged in heavily charred barrels (that Bill refers to as an "Alligator" char).
As he describes it: "It's similar to Ardbeg 10 year old, but with bells and whistles." (I was waiting for him to say it's like the 10 year old, but a bit more hard-skinned and with a bite.
)
The age of the whisky is also very similar to Ardbeg 10. It's a combination of some "regular" Ardbeg with some of the Alligator char-aged Ardbeg which was then aged an additional year in refill casks to marry and integrate. (I promised Bill I wouldn't go into any more detail than this, so please don't ask.)
My thoughts?: It's an aggressive Ardbeg (and will be bottled at 51.7%) with a good dose of smoked fish in the flavor profile. The nice thing about it is that there's a good creamy vanilla underbelly to balance the aggressiveness and (at least partially) muzzle the Alligator. Alligator should be available here in the U.S. in June as an "Ardbeg Committee" release.
The third sample Bill pulled out, which he calls the "Son of Alligator," was much different that Alligator. Bill hinted that this might be next year's Limited-edition Ardbeg release. it was softer, creamier, and fruitier than Alligator, with a good does of creamy vanilla, custard, and stone fruits (peach, apricot, perhaps even nextarine.)
Would any of you (who are still reading this long post) like to wager why the good doctor is calling it "Son of Alligator?" Is Bill using the emptied alligator-char casks an additional time? I honestly don't know. I'm just guessing. What's your guess?
http://www.whatdoesjohnknow.com/ 
