The Ardbeg distillery is located in Ardbeg on the isle of Islay, in Argyll & Bute in the Inner Hebrides. Owned by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, this distillery is known for produced a peaty Islay whisky using malted barley which has been sourced from maltings in Port Ellen.
Having been producing fine whisky since 1798, the Ardbeg distillery started its commercial production a few years into the 19th century, in 1815. For much of its long history, similar to most other Scottish distilleries, it produced whisky to be used in blended whiskies, instead of as a single malt. By the end of the 19th century, the distillery was producing an impressive 300,000 gallons of whisky every year and had 60 workers.
In 1981, production temporarily came to a halt, however in 1989 it resumed once more, albeit on a limited basis, and went on at a low level until 1997 when the distillery was finally purchased and then reopened by Glenmorangie Plc. Full production resumed a year later and the distillery has continued to thrive ever since.
Ardbeg’s whiskies have earned a number of highly regarded awards over recent years, including the Whisky Bible 2008 award for Scotch Single Malt of the Year and World Whisky of the Year for the Tens Years Old expression. Ardbeg Galileo also won the category of World’s Best Single Malt Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards in 2013.
Ardbeg distillery has participated in numerous interesting marketing campaigns and takes part every summer in Islay’s festival of music and malt whisky, Feis Ile. In 2011, there were 20 vials of Ardbeg sent up to the ISS (International Space Station) to see how they interacted. They returned to Earth 3 years later.
Interestingly, there are numerous cultural references to the Ardbeg distillery. In 2003, Ardbeg inspired Osmo Tapio Raihala, a Finnish contemporary music composer, to compose a symphonic poem which was then recorded in 2011 and offered for sale in 2014. It has also featured in several TV series and movies, with John Constantine, played by Keanu Reeves, drinking Ardbeg in the movie Constantine in 2005. Harry Pearce, a character in the BBC TV series Spooks, is also seen regularly drinking the whisky.
