‘Rich in Both Lore and Taste’: Ardbeg Releases The Harpy’s Tale, an Experimental Single Malt

Ardbeg, the Islay-based scotch whisky distillery known for its smoky single malts, has just released the inaugural expression within its experimental Anthology Collection, The Harpy’s Tale. The spirit was aged for 13 years in a mixture of ex-bourbon and Sauternes casks, and the brand described it as a “tussle between powerful smoke and rich sweetness” in a news release Tuesday.

The Harpy’s Tale hosts an ABV of 46% and a suggested retail price of $164.99. The first offering from Ardbeg’s Anthology Collection will be available for purchase at select retail outlets including ReserveBar and the distillery.

“We have embarked on a bold maturation experiment to fuse Ardbeg’s signature smokiness with more nuanced sweeter notes for our new release,” Ardbeg Director of Distilling and Whiskey Creation Dr. Bill Lumsden said in the news release. “The Harpy’s Tale — result[s] in a very unusual and complex breed of Ardbeg. This is a dram that represents a battle between sweet and smoke — one I believe fans are yet to experience in an Ardbeg dram, one that I’m sure they will be excited to taste for themselves.”

The spirit’s distinctively hybridized nature which stems from maturing in both traditional ex-bourbon casks and slightly sweeter Sauternes casks is the reasoning behind the brand choosing to name it after the mythical half-human, half-bird creature.

Sauternes is a dessert wine made in Bordeaux that often has plenty of honeyed and tropical fruit flavors. The distinctively rich dessert wine is made from grapes that are infected with botrytis, or “the noble rot,” according to Wine Folly. The botrytis fungus dries the grapes out while concentrating the sugars, yielding a very sweet wine.

“Collectively, the whiskies in the Anthology Collection will form a legendary, perfectly balanced and delicious series of rare and unusual Ardbegs, rich in both lore and taste,” Lumsden said. “We look forward to revealing more in the Collection in the near future.”

In April 2022, the brand released Ardbeg Ardcore 2022 Committee Edition, made with “black malt,” which the brand claimed was “roasted to the extreme” and tasted like “biting on a spiky ball.” Interested parties can view our review here to see what we thought.

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