Ardbeg 10yo
July 11, 2010 No CommentsThere seems to be a lot going on at the moment with Ardbeg; the Lord Robertson bottling, 10th Anniversary celebrations and the new Supernova.
On the back of this I thought it would be a great time to take stock and go to the grass roots for those who haven’t tried any Ardbeg yet.
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The 10 year old Ardbeg is an icon of whisky but is one that has a love/hate relationship within the community of whisky drinkers; a Marmite of the whisky world.
Over the last decade the distillery has be pulled from the abyss by the Glenmorangie Company and the road hasn’t been a straight forward one! I think it’s safe to say the credit goes to people like Jackie Thompson, Mickey Heads, the team at Ardbeg and the marketing guys behind all the great stuff that’s been going on at the distillery for the brilliant turn around.
Of course, some credit has to go to us, the consumers, but I’m pleased Ardbeg was saved. When thinking about us as consumers I do wonder with the LVMH connection at what point is Ardbeg going to become inaccessible to most people who love it? I know I voiced this in my post from the Feis Ile this year in my Lagavulin, but it still stands with the £200+ price tag of the Ardbeg Lord Robertson bottling last week.
The Robertson is a 10 years old single cask bottling, which isn’t a rarity as other people do bottle Ardbegs (SMWS have a stunning dram on there new list), but with the Ardbeg label it adds extra weight for collectors. I know that I shouln’t be a negator about this as the money goes to Erskine, the charity which cares for ex-service men and women. It just seems a shame they certainly priced myself out the market, but could have released a lot more bottles at a slightly increased price and sold them all in a heart beat, while also having many more satisfied customers.
I’ll always have a fond place on my whisky shelf for Ardbeg and like my parents I’ll get my kids on to it at a very early age (please Drink responsibly!), but I do hope that the luxury product placement doesn’t take it too far from an honest man’s dram!
