Ardbeg 21 Year Old Committee Release 2016

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.

Ardbeg Twenty One was exclusively available to members of the Ardbeg Committee in 2016. Officially launched in January 2000, the Ardbeg Committee is a fan club that loosely tasked with safeguarding the distillery from a return to its darker days of the previous century. Open to anyone to register, the club has access to exclusive releases like this one, which are never available to the general public. Membership also have access to a private room at the distillery and are asked to adhere to semi-tongue in cheek set of Committee rules, one of which warns of grave consequences for those who mix their Ardbeg with anything other than water.

Mickey Heads, the then Ardbeg Distillery manager and chairman of the Ardbeg Committee dedicated this release to the Committee Members saying  “Ardbeg Twenty One is a shining example of Ardbeg’s enduring spirit [and] I’m so pleased we can share it with our members.”

The release uses liquid distilled in the mid-90s, prior to the time of the distillery's last closure, with Heads adding, “the committee have invested much in ensuring the future of the distillery and it’s only right that they should share the rewards of its turbulent past too.”