The Whisky Shop presents,
Whiskies from the Ardbeg Distillery
This Distillery has been commercially producing whisky since 1815 (it is 202 years old!). Located at in the isle of Islay, this Scotch whisky distillery uses malted barley sourced from the malting in Port Ellen. Its whisky is the most unique and heavily peated (with a distinctive smoky flavour) using malt with phenol content of 55ppm (parts per million) with some exceptions of varying ppm.
Ardbeg’s history is one filled with ups and downs, they have come a long way to become an internationally renowned distillery brand today. As mentioned, John Macdougall became a proud owner of the Ardbeg distillery legally in 1815 however, 23 years later, it was sold to Thomas Buchanan for £1,800. After Thomas’s death, his two sisters took over and they were regarded as the first ever female distillers in Scotland. After many successful year in operation, Ardbeg closed from 1932 to 1935.
From 1935 to 1981, there were a handful of takeovers and acquisition; Ardbeg was bought over/sold multiple times. Production halted again in 1981 but resumed on a limited release basis in 1989 and continued to produce in small batches 1996. During this time, the distillery was only open 2 month in a year for malting and distilling.
Coming back to recent years, Ardbeg become one of the first ever to have conducted whisky experiments in space on the International Space Station in 2011. To celebrate this achievement, Ardbeg Galileo was launched the following year. In the first 48 hours, 60,000 bottles were sold. Not only that, ‘Ardbeg Day’ was created. On that day (2nd June), an event known as the ‘Islay-limpics’ is held whereby a series of mock Highland Games (a unique mix of sports, culture and community) are carried out among the communities.
Finally, in 2014, the first whisky experiment in space touched down back on Earth on 12th September and with that Ardbeg Supernova hit the shelves with their limited edition/release; it was widely received by the people and won many awards.
Celebrating the 200 years of Ardbeg, let’s look at the numerous whiskies awards won by this legendary Distillery. Awards include;
So if you’re interested in peated single malt whisky, do check out our latest Ardbeg collection. Some Ardbeg whiskies available on our site includes Ardbeg Supernova 2015 – Committee Release, Ardbeg Perpetuum 2015 – Committee Release, and Ardbeg 1975 - 30 years Single Cask #4717 - Feis Lsle 2006.
Source
Ardbeg Official Website – Ardbeg (2017), From https://www.ardbeg.com/visit-us/distillery/ardbeg-history
Islay-limpics - AdNews. (2017). Adnews.com.au, From http://www.adnews.com.au/campaign/islay-limpics
