Ardbeg Anthology: The Unicorn’s Tale is a 14 year old Islay single malt Scotch whisky, the second release in Ardbeg’s Anthology Collection. Released in 2024, it marries classic Ardbeg matured in ex-bourbon casks with a parcel of Ardbeg matured entirely in Malmsey Madeira casks. It is the first Ardbeg ever matured in Madeira casks, and is bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered.

The Anthology Collection

Ardbeg’s Anthology Collection draws on mythical hybrid creatures, each release pairing classic Ardbeg with a cask the distillery had never used before. The first, The Harpy’s Tale, a 13 year old, introduced Sauternes sweet white wine casks. The Unicorn’s Tale followed with Madeira. The unicorn is also Scotland’s national animal.

Malmsey Madeira

Madeira is a fortified wine from the Portuguese island of the same name, made in styles from dry to sweet. Malmsey is the sweetest and richest of them. In The Unicorn’s Tale, the Madeira-matured parcel brings baked fruit, sponge pudding and syrupy sweetness. The bourbon-cask Ardbeg brings its familiar citrus, tar and peat smoke. Because the Madeira parcel was matured in those casks for its whole life rather than finished in them briefly, the wine’s influence runs all the way through.

Ardbeg Anthology: The Unicorn’s Tale Tasting Notes

• Nose: Baked banana bread, syrupy sponge pudding and molasses, moving to burning cedarwood. With water, tropical fruit, eucalyptus oil and gentle smoke.
• Palate: Lime zest and ripe peach, then smoked fruit, toasted bread, tar, liquorice and antiseptic lozenge, with barley malt, nutmeg and peat smoke.
• Finish: Long and smoky, with menthol, clove, wood smoke and camphor.

Who It Suits

The Unicorn’s Tale suits collectors following the Anthology Collection, and Ardbeg drinkers who want to taste how a sweet wine cask meets the distillery’s peat. Compare it with Ardbeg 10 Year Old to taste what the Madeira adds, or with Ardbeg Heavy Vapours for another of Ardbeg’s experiments.