Ardbeg Uigeadail and Arigh Questions?

[MacLlyr]

I noticed that Arigh is no longer on the Ardbeg website, does this mean that it is no longer being produced? As well I was wondering which years it was made and if each year is actually older than the preceding?

Concerning the Uige I was wondering what the years of production are? As well do they pull from various casks each bottling as I noticed that there is not a distillation date as there is with the Arigh?
Thanks

[borgom]

My understanding is that the ANB is either 16 or 17 years old with two runs bottled in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
There are some other threads on the issue of it being discontinued - apparently it is not though i'd imagine they will run out of 1990 spirit at some point so who knows....

You are correct on the Oggy, it is a vatting of different ages and casks.

BTW the ANB is also a mixture of different casks it just happens that they are all distilled 1990 in ex-bourbon casks.

[lohssanami]

Here is some discussion on the Beist and the subsequent absence from the Ardbeg shop.

http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9571

From what I've heard, the distillery was just out of stock. No discontinuation yet.

You can always get really great tasting notes as well as other information on Ardbeg and other Islay distilleries from Spirit of Islay's site. Main page is http://www.spiritofislay.net, and the forums are at http://www.spiritofislay.net/warehouse4/. You can ask about the cask selection etc. for the Uigeadail over there.

As for years produced (bottled), this is what I have so far.

Airigh Nam Beist

2006 (700ml and 750ml)
2007 (700ml and 750ml)
2008 (700ml and I've yet to see a US release 750ml)

Uigeadail

2003 (700ml and 750ml) 2003 on back
1st half 2004 (700ml and 750ml) 2004 on back
The label was changed sometime during the summer of 2004, removing the date from the back. This also coincided with adding the Post Code on the front label, and replacing the "Traditional Strength" in gold on front with "Non-Chill Filtered" in gold.
2nd half 2004 (700ml and 750ml) no date
2005 (700ml and 750ml) no date
2006 (700ml and 750ml) no date
I haven't personally confirmed 2007 or 2008 bottles, but I'm sure they have been produced. The US stocks don't change as fast as the UK/Europe so we seem to get a year or older stock on most Ardbeg's.

Hope this helps a little...

[Bunkermania]

If you look closely on the back of your Uigedail bottles you can see the lasercode on the bottle. If it says L8 it's bottled in 2008. I do have a bottle Uigeadail with L8 on it, so it has been bottled this year. I also have a Beist (70 cl) which it says on the back label "Bottled in 2008".

[Willie JJ]

You can ask about the cask selection etc. for the Uigeadail over there.

I can't give you any info on the ages of the Uigeadail casks (it may change from batch to batch), but as far as the cask type is concerned it is 15% sherry and 85% bourbon.

Cheers

[Bunkermania]

You can ask about the cask selection etc. for the Uigeadail over there.

I can't give you any info on the ages of the Uigeadail casks (it may change from batch to batch), but as far as the cask type is concerned it is 15% sherry and 85% bourbon.

Cheers

Actually, I think that the recipe have changed with the different bottlings of Uigeadail. According to Ardbegs brand Ambassador in Sweden it has gone up and down between 15% and 35% sherrycasks.

[Willie JJ]

That's quite possible. I got my info from Mickey Heads, the distillery manager, and he never mentioned any variation, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

[mr_fox]

Is it just me or has the Uig box shown on the Ardbeg website changed? Looks like it has a fold up top, not like the box I have at home...

[lohssanami]

There were two style of boxes for the Uigeadail.

2003-2005 were the older larger lid box, which was much stronger than the current box. I've heard them referred to as the "Flip-Top" box.

2006-now the box is similar in cut as the 10 and ANB.

There may have been some overlap from 2005-6 with older boxes and newer bottles and vice versa.

There are other varieties as well to help ascertain the approximate date, but just PM me for details as I've posted that info a few times already.

Bunkermania: Thanks for the info on the 2008 Uigeadail! I just got a 2007 from Switzerland so I can confirm these dates.