Drink This: Ardbeg Traigh Bhan Is Easier to Drink Than Pronounce

We’re not in the habit of suggesting you buy $335 bottles of scotch but this one is… very special. For starters, Islay’s Ardbeg is famous for not “doing” age statements (the entry level 10-year-old is the only other bottle you’ll see a number on). And the last time they did anything near this old was 20 years ago with Ardbeg 17, but try finding a bottle of that anywhere for under $1,000.

And, finally, 19 years is a sweet spot for the brute smoky power of Islay—as the dearly departed 18-year-old from Ardbeg’s next door neighbour, Laphroaig, showed us. This bottle—it’s pronounced tri van—is a spit-roasted pineapple over a peat fire, lightly sprinkled with chili powder wearing a Gieves and Hawkes hacking jacket. A stunner of a whisky, and it dropped earlier this month.