Ardbeg Day / Feis Ile 2012

You would not think it to see it now, but Ardbeg had a difficult time of it for much of the 20th century. The distillery was bought in a joint venture between Hiram Walker and DCL in 1959, both intending to supply their blends. The subsequent years were very successful, but DCL backed out in 1979 (closing many of their other distilleries a few years later), and Hiram Walker then struggled in the 1980s era oversupply when interest is blended Scotch was waning. They closed it down for the majority of the decade. It re-opened briefly in the 1990s before being revived for good by Glenmorangie plc in 1997.

Released on 1st June 2012 as Ardbeg’s annual Feis Ile bottling, it was not only available at Ardbeg Distillery, but also via 100 Ardbeg ‘embassies’.

The hugely popular Ardbeg Day was a limited run of 12,000 bottles partially married in refill sherry casks used to mature whisky for the Ardbeg Uigeadail.