Ardbeg 23yo 1965 / 1988 Mizuhashi Total Liquor Supply 55%

Revisiting this most esteemed but somehow criminally under-recognized Ardbeg. Best guess is that as a Japanese bottling, it never penetrated our European friends’ imaginations. The whisky? Much as I remember: impeccable and pristine. Peat oil, petrol fumes, searing minerals, and saltwater. Laser cut precision. Violet leaf, wintergreen, menthol and white smoke. Not an ounce of fat and not a wobble out of balance. Not excessively peaty but peaty just so. Not excessively coastal but coastal just so. Not excessively powerful but powerful just so. It’s a knife edge of a game, totally cerebral, and as near to perfection as a malt can be. 94 pts