Ardbeg Drum
Special Committee Only Edition 2019
Ardbeg Drum
The story of Ardbeg Drum goes on the last day of the Feis Ile Festival – locals would transform everything from harvesters to hatchbacks into magnificent floats. If it had wheels, they decorated it. Adorned with brilliant flowers and fabrics, these vibrant mobile gardens were a sight to behold. Starting at the pier in Port Ellen, the procession would roll by the crowds at Ardbeg, before honking and tooting its way back to be judged. This was a typically Islay cavalcade of colour.
And this year, it just so happens that Ardbeg Drum is a perfectly peaty excuse to celebrate.
One of Scotland’s most iconic and recognisable brands, the Ardbeg of today is thanks to a take over by Glenmorangie in 1997. Prior to this it had fallen into a state of disrepair and suffered bouts of closures since the 1980s when the market lost the taste for Islay peat. The distillery was founded in 1815 by the McDougall family and remained in private hands until the Distillers Company Limited and Hiram Walker bought into the distillery in 1959. In 2004, the parent company was acquired by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy who has enjoyed considerable success since. In 2021, to cope with growing demand, a new stillhouse was completed on the Ardbeg shoreline that is home to 2 new pairs of replica stills that will ensure more of its charismatic whisky is available for all of us to enjoy.
