Ardbeg. That wonderful Islay distillery with a cult following so devoted, over 120,000 fans from over 130 countries have pledged their allegiance to ensure the distillery never closes its doors again. Again? Yes, Ardbeg has quite a tale to tell…
Ardbeg has a weight, a brand, a persona, that is bigger than itself. It has a reputation for huge, bold, peaty whiskies, and its name travels so far and with such reverence that you could be forgiven for thinking it’s the biggest distillery on Islay. In truth, it’s actually the second smallest! With just one pair of stills churning away, its potential annual production capacity is just a trickle over 1.1 million litres.
The first record of a distillery at Ardbeg dates back to 1794, although the current distillery was founded in 1815. Its early history was relatively unremarkable, passing through various permutations of family and private ownership until 1973 when it was purchased in a joint venture between Hiram Walker and the DCL (the forebear of Diageo). Production was subsequently increased, and from 1974, the distillery started to make use of increasing quantities of commercially-sourced malt to supplement its own maltings. In 1977, Hiram Walker assumed full ownership, and the distillery closed its maltings. It is for this reason that Ardbeg bottlings prior to 1974-77 are so highly revered – they are the last expressions containing Ardbeg’s old, peaty, locally-made malt.
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It was shortly after this that Ardbeg’s fortunes turned. The early 1980’s ushered in numerous distillery closures and mothballings, and Ardbeg was closed in 1981. Ownership changed to Allied in 1987, and production started again in 1989, but it was very sporadic production at best, with long periods of silence in between firing up the stills. By this time, Allied also owned Laphroaig, and Ardbeg was seen very much as the weaker, if not superfluous sibling in the stable. (Similar forces sounded the death knell for Port Ellen in 1983: DCL owned both Lagavulin and Caol Ila, and – in an era that preceded today’s love affair with single malts – Port Ellen was simply surplus to their blends’ requirements). Allied closed Ardbeg permanently in 1996 and put it up for sale.
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Ardbeg was rescued in 1997 when Glenmorangie purchased the distillery for £7 million. Mind you, such was the poor and dilapidated state of the distillery, £5.5 million of this was purely for the existing stock maturing in the warehouses!
With no production from 1981 to 1989, and then only extremely sporadic production between 1989 and 1996, stocks of mature (or maturing) Ardbeg were thin, varied and scattered, and new owners Glenmorangie had to embark on a careful plan of stock management and product releases – noting also that a condition of their purchase was to continue supplying Allied’s blending contracts! Most importantly of all, however, Glenmorangie invested heavily in the facility, restoring the plant and equipment, and they quickly came back onstream, producing new spirit from June, 1997. Today, Ardbeg is a clean, shiny distillery to tour, featuring a very highly regarded visitor centre. The old malt kilns have been converted into a brilliant cafe and merchandise shop, and many people (including yours truly) believe some of the best food on the island is served up here.
Mickey Heads, the Distillery Manager, is a true Ileach (having been born and bred on Islay) and he lives and breathes Islay and its whiskies. His father and grandfathers also worked at distilleries, and he spent many years working at Laphroaig before changing roles somewhat and accepting the post as distillery manager at Jura in 1999. He returned to Islay in early 2007 to take up his present role at Ardbeg.
In the early and mid-1990’s, Mickey was amongst the crew from Laphroaig who would get assigned to wander up to Ardbeg to fire up the stills and undertake small production runs to keep the kit intact. It is from those limited runs in 1993 and 1994 that Ardbeg’s new 21yo release originates.
For me, personally, the attraction to Ardbeg is its complexity. Yes, it’s peaty and smoky, as you’d hope, but great Ardbegs also display sweetness, citrus, salt, malt, and multi-layered depth. So how does the new 21yo stack up?
The 21yo was officially released in Australia on 22nd September 2016, with just 90 bottles available in the country and made available to Ardbeg Committee members. However, courtesy of the good folks at evh and Ardbeg Australia, Whisky & Wisdom was granted the opportunity to host a small, intimate tasting with five other whisky mates the night prior at Stitch Bar in Sydney, one of the Ardbeg Embassies. It was an Ardbeggian sneak peek…
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The 21yo has been crafted using 2nd fill and refill ex-bourbon casks that were filled in 1993 and 1994 and originally destined for blending by Chivas Bros. Thankfully, Ardbeg was able to re-acquire the casks, and Dr Bill Lumsden and Gillian Macdonald were impressed as they sampled from the assembled parcel of barrels.
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All good headliners deserve a support act, so we enjoyed the Ardbeg 10yo, Corryvreckan, and Auriverdes, before the star of the show – the 21yo – was unveiled and poured out. As a precursor to my tasting notes below, it must be stated that this whisky unravels slowly and steadily, increasing in both quality and complexity with every minute in the glass. It is at least a 20 minute journey, and we were astounded by how the whisky grew, changed, evolved, and expanded in our glasses over time, as we gave our drams due reverence.
Ardbeg Twenty One
( Ardbeg 21yo )
Nose: Pastry. White pepper. Salty tang. Sandy beaches. Over time, exotic fruits emerge: Lychees. Blood orange. Stewed rhubarb. The distillery’s maritime location and the obvious peat are never too far away either, with the dram giving off scents of fishing reel rods, boat engines, and a mechanic’s workshop. The smokiness brews and grows steadily with each passing minute. After 20 minutes, I concluded this whisky has perhaps the most complex nose I’ve ever encountered.
Palate: At the first tiniest sip, the flavour profile is instantly complex, full, and wide. There is a delicious tarriness to it. There’s a faint mintiness (Black Jacks or Humbugs?), white chocolate, a little drying saltiness, some sweet barley malt, and it delivers all this with the most tantalising, chewy mouthfeel. The body is full and immensely satisfying. With each repeated sip, the flavours grow and expand.
Finish: Needless to say, it’s a long finish, but the most remarkable feature is that there is, quite simply, not an off-note to be found. Everything is in luxurious harmony, leaving a deep trail of softly smouldering, smoky goodness.
Comments: Impressive. Just so impressive. When a whisky is rare, old, or expensive (and usually all three, these days), it is easy to dupe or con yourself into perceiving quality or characteristics that aren’t always there. This whisky is the polar opposite: It practically screams its quality and depth at you, showing a level of sophistication and elegance that is beyond many of today’s new releases. For those who have the patience to spend time with their dram and critically assess, the Ardbeg 21yo rewards you with a rolling crescendo that is continually growing and expanding, offering such a wide kaleidoscope of flavours, we struggled to capture them all and write them down. A point was reached where the whisky went beyond analysis, and just simply demanded to be savoured and enjoyed.
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Top marks to Ardbeg for this new release and for going the extra mile to ensure that precious casks filled during the distillery’s most perilous hours were rescued and have been made available to Committee Members. The Ardbeg 21yo has an RRP of $565 in Australia.
Enormous thanks are due to evh, Ardbeg Australia, and Stitch Bar for this generous and wonderful opportunity, and for allowing Whisky & Wisdom to share the dram and the moment with an appreciative collective of whisky pals. And congratulations to Dr Bill Lumsden for – again – delivering excellence.
Cheers,
AD
All photos by Whisky & Wisdom
