Ardbeg 
Ardbeg is located on the southeast coast of Islay. It was established in 1815 and currently owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. The distillery produces 1,500,000 litres per year and takes its malted barley from Port Ellen. All the spirit is 55ppm. 5 ton mashes are done sixteen times a week. The first wash is 17,500 litres at 64°C and the second is 5,500ℓ at 80°C. A third wash at 85°C goes into the first wash of the next batch. Agitators in each wash back make the process more efficient by stirring up the yeast sediment so it takes less time to clean out the wash back. The distillery is doubling its capacity and building works are currently underway. The new still house will be based on a site once occupied by warehouses, while the area where the current still house resides will be repurposed to house more washbacks. Tours will continue throughout the building works.
The Ardbeg visitor centre and shop also contains The Old Kiln cafe where you can buy a quick snack or something more substantial.
Ardbeg was silent between 1981 and 1989 and ran at a low output until 1996. It was bought by Glenmorangie for £6m and this was £4m for the stock and £2m for the buildings. Production restarted in 1997 and then at a higher capacity in 1998. Older stocks were still available for sale and the excellent 1977 edition now fetches around £1000 a bottle. Ardbeg was originally providing all its output for blending but now keeps everything for its own single malts, either as the 10 year old, Uigeadail, Corryvreckan, An Oa, special editions or with various finishes. There is an Ardbeg 1815 50.1% limited edition bottling of 400 bottles at £3000 each to commemorate the 200th anniversary. The whisky was distilled in 1974 and 1975 and aged for 33 years with a further 8 years spent marrying in glass containers for preservation. The 1974 spirit was matured in bourbon casks while the 1975 spirit was kept in sherry casks.
Drams In Detail £40
This tasting took place at various locations around the distillery. The tour guide was Emma.
- In the shop: 19 year old Traigh Bhan, bottled in 2022 from equal quanities of Bourbon and Oloroso matured casks
- Warehouse 10: 8 year old Still Young, 56.2% all Bourbon casks, equivalent to Ardbeg 10 but at 8 years
- New Filling Store: Eureka 52.2%, Bourbon and PX casks with chocolate malt
- Dunnage Warehouse: Hypernova all fisrt and second fill Bourbon, 170ppm at mashing but 55ppm now
- Back in the shop: Homecoming, 56.1% rum finish
Purchases
