Sorry, been off for a while on a ski trip and with a recent dump of 16 inches of new snow my hopes of getting on the Rocket by early April have been set back a bit!! Ardbeg is a wonderful whisky from the Isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland...I made a foray there last year for the sole purpose of visiting a number of Scotch whisky distilleries. I started drinking single malt Scotch several years ago and it has turned into a bit of a passion. Along with Ardbeg, the famous "Laphroigh" and "Laugavulin" also come from Islay.
But back to the passion of Rockets...I hope to someday soon ride the girl down the Alaska/Canadian highway sometime and meet up with other Rocket Riders from the Pacific Northwest. As far as I know, there is only one other Rocket here in Alaska and when I tried to meet up with him for some riding and camraderie he pretty much signaled he didint care much for other Rocketeers.
There are several great expression of Ardbeg, but for the beginner I recommend the standard "10 Year Old" available at most larger liquer stores-but be aware that Ardbeg, like most Islay whiskies, is heavily peated and thus not for everyones palet. If you are new to single malts I recommend starting out with a Scotch from the "Speyside" region of Scotland. -Doug