Ardbeg Uigeadail bottling codes and differences

[duckmcf]

Hi Gang,
Does anyone know if there are any differences between the various Ardbeg Uigeadail bottlings? I have two in my collection. They both have laser etched codes, that read;
L4 315 11:14 4ML, and
L4 315 13:28 4ML

The reason I ask is that I find myself giving one of them away as a birthday present and I’d like to figure out what the differences (if any) are before I give away a bottle of liquid genius.

Anyway, any info that you can pass on would be greatly appreciated, either specifically about these bottling codes, or more generally on the differences between the older bottlings vs. the newer.

[Deactivated Member]

Hi duckmcf and welcome to the forum.

Uigeadail is a very good dram and has indeed been discussed quite extensivlely on the forum.
A full selection of discussions may be found by using the search option at the top of the page, but here is a thread which may help to answer some of your questions:
http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4022&highlight=uigeadail

Enjoy!
MT

[duckmcf]

Hi duckmcf and welcome to the forum.

Uigeadail is a very good dram and has indeed been discussed quite extensivlely on the forum.
A full selection of discussions may be found by using the search option at the top of the page, but here is a thread which may help to answer some of your questions:
http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4022&highlight=uigeadail

Enjoy!
MT

Hey MT,
Thanks for that. There was some good info in that link that helps to decode my bottles. Just for fun (and for anyone that's interested in Ardbeg Codes) I went through my Ardbeg collection and here are the codes;

L4 315 11:14 4ML - Uigeadail
L4 315 13:28 4ML - Uigeadail
L4 350 22:49 4ML - 10YO
L6 090 10:38 4ML - Still Young
L6 089 13:49 4ML - Ooogling
L4 351 04:17 4ML - Very Young
L5 068 15:37 4ML - Serendipity
L6 256 19:03 4ML - 1990 "The Beastie"
L9 292 11:31 4ML - 17YO

So, it seems reasonable that the L number represents the year bottled. L4 = 2004, L5 = 2005, etc. I presume that the L9 on the 17YO equates to 1999 which is plausable. From what I've read, the second sequence of 3 numbers equates to the day of the year, followed by the time of day, the particular bottle was bottled. And finally, 4ML seems to be code for Ardbeg.


Note that the 17YO has this code printed on the bottle, not etched. I also have a 1977, but I couldn't find any other markings on it.

[Leither]

Other bottle codes are just as easy to work out ie the Classic Malt range from Diageo gives something similar, eg L5310 being the 310th day of year 2005.

Some others simply state the DDMMYY (ie normal UK dating) such as 270605 - so be careful for those of you that normally go by MMDDYY or similar.

You'll find these lot codes on many other forms of packaging such as perishable goods and foodstuffs where the manufacturer needs to use a degree of quality control.

[Di Blasi]

This helps, nice extra info to add to my listed collection. I've often wondered about these "lot numbers," but their similarity never seem to be anything so different then the next. I'd better check more carefully.

[Ardbeg311]

Other bottle codes are just as easy to work out ie the Classic Malt range from Diageo gives something similar, eg L5310 being the 310th day of year 2005.

I think this is the case now with Diageo's Classic Malts, but my Lagavulin 12yo (2004) has the following code: L15X02504615.

[Arthur Motley]

This may have been mentioned in an earlier post, so sorry if you've already read this but at the launch of Still Young I remember Stuart Thomson mentioning that recent Oggie was made with 70s Fino sherry casks. My memory tells me that it was 70s Oloroso in the original batch. This makes sense if you've tasted early and later types.

[Di Blasi]

This may have been mentioned in an earlier post, so sorry if you've already read this but at the launch of Still Young I remember Stuart Thomson mentioning that recent Oggie was made with 70s Fino sherry casks. My memory tells me that it was 70s Oloroso in the original batch. This makes sense if you've tasted early and later types.

Wow Arthur, nice seeing you here, I didn't know you were around! Thanks for the info, I did hear about the earlier bottlings but didn't understand what made the later bottlings noticeably different, good to know! I'm gonna have to check my bottling a bit closer and figure out exactly what I have down there collecting dust.

[duckmcf]

Hi Everyone,
This recent discussion on Ardbeg bottling codes has got me thinking (and drinking) about possible yearly variations with Ardbeg's 10 year old expression. Has anyone noticed any differences with the 10yo marked as L4, L5 & L6 which equates to 2004, 2005 & 2006 respectively?

[Lawrence]

Hi Everyone,
This recent discussion on Ardbeg bottling codes has got me thinking (and drinking) about possible yearly variations with Ardbeg's 10 year old expression. Has anyone noticed any differences with the 10yo marked as L4, L5 & L6 which equates to 2004, 2005 & 2006 respectively?

No, Ardbeg 10 has been very consistant from bottling to bottling. I have not read or heard of any significant variations with this bottling.

Anybody else??

[Reggaeblues]

...and though it's been nearly two years since my last oogie, my latest just opened is a cracker IMHO.