Ardbeg distillery

History of the distillery

The Ardbeg distillery has been producing whisky since 1798, and began commercial production in 1815. Like most Scottish distilleries, for most of its history, its whisky was produced for use in blended whisky, rather than as a single malt. By 1886 the distillery produced 300,000 gallons of whisky per year, and employed 60 workers. Production was halted in 1981, but resumed on a limited basis in 1989 and continued at a low level through late 1996, during the period when Ardbeg was owned by Hiram Walker. In 1997 the distillery was bought and reopened by Glenmorangie plc (subsequently taken over by the French company LVMH on 28 December 2004) with production resuming on June 25, 1997 and full production resuming in 1998. The distillery was reopened by Ed Dodson in 1997 and handed over to Stuart Thomson, who managed it from 1997 to 2006. Michael "Mickey" Heads, an Islay native and former manager at Jura who had worked at Ardbeg years earlier, took over on 12 March 2007.

The name is derived from the Scottish Gaelic: Àrd Beag, meaning Small Headland.

Bottlings

Ardbeg whisky is considered to be among the peatiest in the world, with most expressions using malt with a phenol content of 55ppm.

There are several official bottlings. Major ones include:

Also there are Committee bottlings that are available to members of the Ardbeg Committee that precede official bottlings. Independent bottlings are also available but are considerably rarer than similar bottlings from other distilleries.

Ardbeg seldom release whiskies with age statements.

Ardbeg often bottles its whisky at a higher alcohol by volume (abv) than the minimum 40%, and they no longer chill filter their whisky. Both of these measures are thought to yield a more full-flavoured whisky. The process of lowering the alcohol content at bottling can dilute the flavour, and while chill filtration gives the whisky a clearer appearance at lower temperatures by removing fatty acids, proteins and esters that can cluster together, the loss of these compounds can also result in a loss of flavour; in particular the esters can contribute a fruit-like fragrance.

Awards

Ardbeg's offerings have garnered an array of awards at international spirit ratings competitions. For example:

Production

The distillery output is quite big for a distillery with only two pot stills. The wash still has a capacity of about 18,000 liters and the spirit still of about 17,000 liters. Both pot stills are constricted at the intermediate piece. This increases the amount of reflux in the distillation process and leads to a smoother spirit.

Promotional activities

The Ardbeg Committee is the distillery's promotional fan club. Its members are consulted on new products and receive special offers and invitations to special gatherings, tastings and events. Committee members are able purchase special, Committee-only bottlings of the whisky.

Every summer the distillery takes part in the island's Fèis Ìle (Islay's festival of music and malt whisky) which includes a distillery programme. On 2 June 2012, the distillery promoted a global "Ardbeg Day". Celebrating with the theme of "Islay-limpics", the event included parties around the world, and released a special bottling.

In 2011, 20 vials of Ardbeg spirit and wood particles were sent to the International Space Station to investigate their interaction. They returned on 12 September 2014.