Ardbeg Kildalton

[Deactivated Member]

I bought a bottle of Ardbeg Kildalton from their website - one of the rare bottles they "found" recently - and it arrived without a box or tube. Does anyone know whether Kildalton was supposed to have a box or tube and, if so, how badly the absence would affect the value?

[STella]

We got our bottle when it first came out and it came just as yours has. No tube/box.

They did find some stunners it appears. Provenance without box for £130ish?? With box for £270.??

Lots of other one off- 76,75,78 etc.

And watch for next years 1965.!!

Stella

[Deactivated Member]

Nick, I'm shocked. Shocked!

[Deactivated Member]

I do like Islay whiskies - honest. Ardbeg 77 is fabulous and I have had a few good peaty whiskies from elsewhere too (Ardmore and Ledaig come to mind). A good peaty whisky can be complex and great, but I think that sometimes distilleries use the peat to try to disguise unbalanced whisky. All too often, the nose promises much but the taste fails to deliver. Kildalton, of course, is unpeated. I am in two minds about whether to drink it or whether to treasure it. I shall try it in a bar first and decide from there.

[corbuso]

Hi Nick,
Instead of getting a dram of Kildalton in a bar, you can be the peat pack (on sale at the Ardbeg shop). It contains 4 miniatures (5 cl) including one of Kildalton.

Corbuso

[Deactivated Member]

I do like Islay whiskies - honest.

No, it's not that--it's the concern over collector's value, from the guy who eschews the many special once-in-a-lifetime bottlings! Don't take seriously, just struck me funny.

[Deactivated Member]

I don't eschew special, once in a lifetime whiskies. In fact, I have a great many of them. My objection is that if a distillery's everyday output is always presented as a special, limited edition, then the impact of a genuine one-off is reduced. It devalues the currency.

In beer terms in the UK, brewers used to have a basic range and then, once in a blue moon, some of them might produce a special - perhaps for Christmas or for a Royal Wedding. These were usually high strength and high quality. But then, when it became clear that there was section of the buying public who would try anything once, we started to get a lot more breweries producing specials - often one a month or more. The quality of the specials nose-dived because, let's face it, there was little potential for obtaining customer loyalty from specials. At the same time, the number of breweries increased and they started changing names at will, or brewing different beers under different trading names - sounding familiar? The end result was that a lot of the traditional regional brewers went under because they couldn't shift the volume to keep their pub estates open - because the punters were all off trying the latest awful one off brews from the latest fly-by-night micros. OK, I simplify for effect, but I fear that whisky could go the same way. Sudden upturns in popularity can be a mixed blessing.

[Deactivated Member]

No argument with that last.