Ardbeg Heavy Vapours

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Again a tasty design by the marketing department, unfortunately NO nicely designed taste. Please never loose the purifier again and pay any ransom in case of it being held hostage. Whisky friends, stay with the TEN, you will fare much better in taste and money spent imho. Ardbeg used to be an A distillery, the A remains in the name, but for quality control reasons and honesty, could you rename to C,-, D- or E-rdbeg? Will this slide ever stop? Not like this for sure. For some years now, again by far the weakest whisky in a not so grand class of Feis 2023 whiskies. A kind of reverse Bayern Munich... Btw, the label says something about it being the most full blown Ardbeg ever. They got this right, they really blew it.

A bit too simple and spirit driven.

Smoky Session: 2023.07.10. Old Ballantruan 15yo https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/113419/old-ballantruan-15-year-old 84+ Lagavulin 16yo (2021) https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/182617/lagavulin-16-year-old 84+ Ben Bracken 19yo Cd 2003 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/221745/ben-bracken-2003-cd 85+ Ardbeg BizarreBQ https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/228999/ardbeg-bizarrebq 84+ Ardbeg Heavy Vapours https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/229937/ardbeg-heavy-vapours 86- Laphroaig 10yo CS#13 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/189372/laphroaig-cask-strength 88-

I expected a little more from it. It is also not as ‘heavy’ as the name suggests, and it feels a bit young too. Too expensive for what you get.

new tasting after several months of break nose: smoke, charcoal, medicinal ("precious water" from Dépensier, an old dermatological lotion), sweet, wood glue (bitter almond), citrus zest, new plastic (car), varnish, smoky (smoked charcuterie) palate: charcoal, ash, smoke, slightly astringent spiciness, burnt caramel (bitterness), woody, sweet/salty, hint of milk chocolate final: smoke, salted butter caramel, ash, quite long with a piece of dark chocolate, notes of roasted coffee bean develop.

Something weird has been going down at the Distillery. The legendary purifier on the still – responsible for Ardbeg’s exalted balance – is nowhere to be seen. And this whisky – Ardbeg Heavy Vapours – is the consequence. The familiar harmony between peat and floral fruitiness has been disrupted. What have risen are the untamed darker flavours and notes, gathering and filling the senses. It is an ominous dram of dramtic, aromatic pungency. Heavy Vapours will rise.

Nose: campfire smoke, sweet, vanilla, subtle strawberry/peach in the background, very slightly peppery, minimal oak •• Palate: sweet, smoke, oak, subtle dark cherry? •• Finish: short to medium length, smoky sweet oak lingers. •• Conclusion: okay as a daily smoker but nothing special.

Nice Ardbeg, a bit more delicate than you are used to. Slightly drier on the finish. I prefer the 10. especially considering the price They really HAVE to do something about this. Make price according to quality. And not just concerned with how to drive the price as high as possible.

COLOR: very light / white wine - very pleasant Ardbeg - beautifully balanced & aromatic - Comparatively better than the TEN and bottlings like it Ardcore - but of course in the PLV it's more of a disaster... - I'd rather buy 3x the TEN instead - approx. 140€ far too expensive for the quality

tasted at Whisky in Leiden 2023, 10th of June 2023 a nope for me. just to spirity and light sour.

nose: smoke, fresh brioche, wet flour, soft caramel, new plastic (car), citrus zest palate: smoky, sweet/salty, burnt straw, ash, tar, gray pepper, licorice finish: long, sweet/salty, hint of bitterness, smoke, hint of mint

Still sweet and smoke on the nose. In the taste, unfortunately, hardly any more smoke and no longer like Ardbeg. Departure is very flat and after 3 seconds there is not much left except for a minimal smoky taste. Ardbeg quality since 2010. Very expensive and nothing behind it

young

Absolutely typical Ardbeg. But still quite young and not a bit complex. And there's nothing special about it either. That's why I'm not going to write any details now. If it had been sold to me as Ardbeg Ten, I would hardly have noticed it in a blind tasting. Delicious, no question. But definitely not worth the money!

new make with some wood notes, 3 years? I feel its only mature for 3 days.

We are going deep into Whisky Lake 2.0 today, maybe all the way to the bottom in more than one way, so I best put on my atmospheric diving suit. The exact depth is 15 Ardbeg limited releases in one go, with a current 10yo (83 pts.) as the benchmark. Yes, I have written my last will and testament. The lineup from the newest to the oldest bottling is: Smokiverse (81), Spectacular (82), Heavy Vapours (77), Ardcore (76), Scorch (83), Blaaaack (81), Drum (79), Grooves (80), Kelpie (83), Dark Cove (84), Perpetuum (80), Auriverdes (83), Ardbog (87), Galileo (85), Alligator (88). Compared to my previous scores for the bottles I've already tasted, only Auriverdes felt a bit better this time than the first time I tried it many, many years ago. Unsurprisingly, both myself and the tasting panel voted Alligator, Ardbog, and Galileo as the best three. For me the bottom of the barrel was Ardcore with its offensive blandness and youth, but the whole tasting panel voted it the 2nd worst in the lineup, disliking Heavy Vapours even more. Thanks for the tasting, Maija & Pete!

Exceptionally light, light straw color. Oily structure.

Light yellow. Nose: Smoke, citrus, salt, like 10 Y. Taste: Sweetness, honey, smoke, sharp campfire smoke, fruity, tar. Josty.

Powerful but fairly light smoke, peat rubbed with icing sugar. Vanilla candy, lychees, fresh cream. Then comes the distillery's typical herbaceous character, with some iodine notes and a hint of iced lemon zest. In the background, tar, gravel, a touch of fuel oil that sticks to your fingers. Warm caramel. Beautiful maritime breadth, a damp cellar, even half-flooded. The palate, however, is too light despite a mountain of peat and various spices. Pear, white peach, apple, and that's all. A fairly good finish, long but not really strong, warm ashes, black pepper, damp earth, cumin. Sheep's cheese. Mint lozenge. Overall, it seemed quite nice to me, it's like Ten but younger and sweeter, there's nothing heavy about it. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2025/10/ardbeg-heavy-vapours.html

Omaan makuun hieman liian savuinen.

Tasted blind.

Good whisky (like all Ardbegs) but I didn't understand the philosophy behind the absence of the purifier... it should be a "fat and dirty" whisky, and instead it is elegant... yes, it is pungent at times, but why are we talking about a young whisky. Yet another question mark release... good, but why?!?

The name says enough, Heavy Vapours. What an amazing Ardbeg, and the shop where I bought it, only got 1 bottle for sale. An intense whisky with deep flavours and a real joy to discover

Tasted at the distillery today. By surprise I enjoyed it really more than firsty expected after reading the description… I consider it not to be out of balance…

Ah yes it’s Ardbeg again! 46%, pale straw, NAS - Ladies and gentlemen, the One and ONLYYY Heeeeavyyyyy Vaaaaaapoourss! Obviously very young and rough and smoky. Without a fancy cask-finish it’s just an “okay” dram with Ardbeg character and heavy smoke.. not this time Ardbeg and not for this money..

The earthy peat is present, as is a faint paraffinic note, but both seem to operate on half measure, never fully expressing themselves.... read more on https://www.b-spirit.eu/ardbeg-heavy-vaporous/

Fine drinkable slightly smoky whisky

Light summer sipper, vanilla is strong in this one in the nose and on the palette. Lightly toasted barley in the nose, overall a younger Ardbeg imho.

The distillate for this release was distilled without the use of their traditional bubbler and was bourbon-aged just enough to allow the distillers to appreciate the impact of the lack of additional purification. If I were blind, I would easily confuse it with Ledaig. It's a shame the taste is so watery. I don't think there was any point in lowering it to 46%. Great project! I support Ardbeg's work without puryfier! 23 22 21 20

A peated whisky just the way I like it—one that enhances the fruitiness rather than masking it with smoke. Fairly soft and light on the nose, and similarly so on the palate, it takes a little time to fully reveal itself through notes of chocolate and spice. It boasts an exceptionally long finish that plays between fruity and smoky tones, developing a wealth of flavor.

Wouldn't miss this dram for Ardbeg day, it was nice one, color is clear with bit yellow hay tint. The favours are there and it feels nicely balanced. I would think about owning the bottle for the price with light heart, but I'm happy to taste it. The colour and guess led me to think it's maybe younger whisky, but it's apparently some 11 years old one.

Yet another flashy release from Ardbeg. The box and the label looks amazing in my opinion as always. The hungarian mandatory label says: “Contains caramel as colorant.”, interesting as the whisky has barely any color. So on the marketing side and looks it’s a solid 10/10 as usually always. However….what the bottle contains is something else. I’ll try to describe you the best I can. Stinky socks waiting to be washed with a whiff of vanilla. Mud mixed with rainwater in a rusty moldy bucket. Caramel ice cream that we accidentally smeared on our sweaty, smelly summer shirt. A whiff of smoke that the smoking gentleman standing next to us puffed in our faces. Overall, weak, watery, lacks flavor. To me it tastes like an Ardbeg 10 with some extra added water, salt and smoke. I am not sure I like the cask usage either…(please give us some first fills next time around) What are my recommendations? If you are a collector and you bought all previous ones then go on and buy it. If you are a drinker then just avoid it. N: 81 T: 76 F: 78 78.333 = 78pts / 100 —> perhaps not as good as a lot of us expected. Looking forward to trying the Commitee Release. Off to tasting and rating the BizarreBQ which has a better reputation and I have high expectations towards! Slàinte!

Ardbeg, what's going on? This whisky is as flat as a board.

A nice Ardbeggy dram that is quite enjoyable, but to be absolutely honest, I do not prefer it over the Corryvreckan. That being said, I’d be more than happy to have a bottle or two on my shelf!

Wow… what a bad Ardbeg this is! It tastes like a cheap blended islay with only malts that are far too young. And then think about the price they ask for it…

So first off, I have on good authority from "Ardbeg day" in London this is a 12 year old whisky. This isn't what I expected in my opinion it brought out more rounded chewy and soft sweet flavours. I believe I said it was like a smokey marshmallow, now for some this isn't going to go down well as ardbeg is know for it's hard hitting stabby creosote notes but I think this was well done. That's being said it is a lot of marketing fluff and way over priced, if this came in at the £75 mark at a reasonable proof I think most would be shouting about how wonderful this is but due to this I think overall it's a bit of a sign of the times. Expensive but at least it's a half decent whisky.

A little too much newmake. Very young. This should sit in the barrel for a while longer. A weakness for me. Ardbeg smoke. Citrus fruits. And some grass notes.

Much more smoke in terms of taste than smell. Very "ashy". Seems pretty young to me.

Clean smoky flavor

I like this one very much, it is different enough from all other Ardbegs I had so far, the taste is very very interesting as it is strong and medicinal at first and then it moves in a wonderful chocolady finish which I personally enjoy a lot

I’m not one for artificial colour but this is so pale it’s off putting, it looks like a flat lime and soda. Taste is fairly standard Ardbeg, nose is the other strange thing as in there’s not a lot going on. I’m guessing they came up with the name first and it’s got nothing to do with the liquid in the bottle.