Ardbeg
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| Ardbeg | ||
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| Region: Islay | ||
| Owner: | Glenmorangie plc | |
| Founded: | 1815 | |
| Status: | Active | |
| Water Source: | Loch Uigeadail | |
| No. of Stills: | 1 wash 1 spirit |
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| Capacity: | 1,000,000 litres | |
| Ardbeg | ||
| Age(s): | Blasda 10-year-old Still Young Almost There Airigh Nam Beist Uigeadail (cask strength) Renaissance Lord of the Isles (25-year-old) |
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| Cask Type(s): | Bourbon | |
Ardbeg Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery on the south coast of the isle of Islay, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides group of islands.
Other distilleries on the south coast include Laphroaig and Lagavulin. Ardbeg claims to be the peatiest Islay whisky[1], and uses malted barley sourced from the (Diageo owned) maltings in Port Ellen. Ed Dodson re-opened the distillery in 1997, and handed the reins over to Stuart Thomson who managed the distillery from 1997 to 2006. Michael "Mickey" Heads, the former manager at Jura, took over the reins on March 12, 2007.
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[edit] History
The Ardbeg distillery was established in 1815, but was mothballed in 1981 when production stopped. Production resumed on a limited basis in 1989, and continued at a low level through late 1996. It was bought and reopened in 1997 by Glenmorangie plc, with production resuming on June 25, 1997, with full production resuming in 1998. It is now one of the fastest growing Islay single-malts. Glenmorangie plc is owned by the French company LVMH. The Ardbeg Committee was established in 1999 to "promote the advancement of general knowledge and enjoyment of Ardbeg" (Quote: Rules and Regulations, page 4). All Ardbeg-aficionados can join this Committee on Ardbeg's website (see below). Special bottlings can sometimes be obtained by members of this committee. It is not possible to have these special bottlings shipped to the US or Canada.
[edit] Bottlings
Ardbeg often bottles its whiskies at a higher alcohol by volume (abv) than the minimum 40%. Many bottlings are also non-chill filtered. Both measures contribute to produce a full-flavoured whisky.[citation needed]
There are several official bottlings, major ones are:
- Very Young: Committee Approved, 58.3% ABV. First sold in 2003 as a 6-year-old, to give Ardbeg-lovers the chance to taste the first whisky produced since the reopening in 1997.
- Still Young: 58.3% ABV, bottled as an 8-year-old and released in 2006.
- Almost There: 54.1% ABV, the third release in the series. Released in 2007 as a 9-year-old.
- Renaissance: 55.9% ABV, a limited release of the final 10 year old Ardbeg. Distilled in 1998, released to the public in June 2008.
- 10 Year Old, 46% ABV
- Uigeadail, 54.2% ABV (cask strength), named after the loch that provides the distillery with water. Pronounced oog-a-dal.
- 25 Year Old, "Lord of the Isles", 46% ABV
- Serendipity, 40% ABV, an unintentional vatting of old Ardbeg with 12-year-old Glen Moray.
- Airigh Nam Beist, 46% ABV, 16 years old, based entirely on 1990 stock. It means "shelter of the beast".
Limited Edition Releases:
- Blasda, 40% ABV, this is a new "lightly peated" expression of Ardbeg that only has 8ppm phenol count
- Corryvreckan, 57.1% ABV, this was a limited release from the distillery and available in only a few select places in Europe.
- Supernova, 58.9% ABV, this is pretty much the exact opposite of the Blasda in that it is "heavily peated" to over 100ppm phenol count
Independent bottlings are also available.
[edit] Awards
Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2008 awarded the 10 year old expression the title of 2008 World Whisky of the Year and Scotch Single Malt of the Year.[2]
Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2009 awarded the Uigeadail expression the title of 2009 World Whisky of the Year and Scotch Single Malt of the Year.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Ardbeg inspired the Finnish composer of contemporary music, Osmo Tapio Räihälä, to write the symphonic poem Ardbeg—The Ultimate Piece For Orchestra (2003). The piece was awarded in the 1st International Uuno Klami composition competition in 2004.
In the 2005 film Constantine starring Keanu Reeves, the title character John Constantine (Reeves) is seen drinking Ardbeg in his apartment while talking to Detective Dodson (Rachel Weisz). In a minor coincidence, Ed Dodson was the distillery manager that re-opened Ardbeg in 1997.
In the BBC series Spooks, the character Harry Pearce is seen on a number of occasions to be drinking Ardbeg.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Ardbeg web site". http://www.ardbeg.com/home.asp. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ "Island whisky wins top accolade". BBC News. November 18, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7100733.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 55°38′32.61″N 6°06′36.73″W / 55.6423917°N 6.1102028°W
