Ardbeg

Ardbeg is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery on the south coast of Islay in Argyll and Bute. The name comes from the Gaelic for ‘small promontory’, and the site has stood since 1798. Water for the whisky comes from Loch Uigeadail two miles inland. The distillery once ran at full steam, producing 300,000 gallons a year by 1886 and employing sixty workers. After a long pause it reopened in 1997 under Glenmorangie and is now owned by the French luxury group LVMH. The distillery is famous for its heavily peated malt and has won world titles repeatedly. Its core range includes Ardbeg TEN, Wee Beastie, An Oa, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan. In 2008 the TEN was named World Whisky of the Year, and Uigeadail claimed the same prize in 2009 and 2010. A 1975 cask sold in 2022 for £16 million, the highest price ever paid for a whisky cask at auction. Even the distillery’s spirit has ventured into space, with samples sent to the International Space Station in 2011. Visitors find a working distillery with two large pot stills holding 18,000 and 17,000 litres. A new still house is being built to double capacity. The site provides on-site accommodation for its staff. A limited-edition Corryvreckan bottling from 2008 was created with comic artist Tradd Moore and is issued in only 250 bottles. The surrounding hills and the nearby sea give the whisky its character, while the distillery’s award-winning range offers rich spice, malt and sweet notes.