The Islay Taste Map by Martine Nouet & Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Ardbeg Distillery
Sited on the exposed southern edge of Islay, Ardbeg (from the Gaelic for "small headland") was founded by the MacDougall family in 1815, the same year Wellington defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.
It would be more than a century and a half later until first Hiram Walker took over in 1977 and then Allied Distillers. Mothballed for most of the 1980s, Ardbeg was substantially refurbished and reopened by Glenmorangie Plc in 1997. The distillery went on to be voted Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2004 by readers of Whisky Magazine.
KEY ELEMENTS
- Air
- Water
- Earth
- Fire
Ardbeg 10 Years Old - 46%
- Air 20%
- Water 15%
- Earth 25%
- Fire 40%
TASTE NOTES
Phenolic with an immediate sweetness. Soft and ethereal smoke combines with a tar note. Bog myrtle and gentle meadow sweet flowers get challenged by creamy lemon. A mineral touch. Smooth then drying on sooty notes. Tobacco smoke and roasted coffee.
Heavily peated
- Outdoors:
- Meditating by a smouldering bonfire on a pebble beach in summer.
- Indoors:
- Drinking cappuccino in a log cabin, lost in the wilderness.
- Character:
- Smoky/Sooty.
- Distillery
- Map
- Street View not available