Might the revival of Ardbeg one day lead to the release of a new 10-year old? If so, would it be like the Ardbeg of old? Neil Wilson looks at the ups and downs of a legend
When I first visited Ardbeg the year was 1984 and the distillery had been closed for three years. By 1990 the distillery was up and running again, but the whisky was intended mostly for blending. By the mid-nineties it was clear that Ardbeg’s owner, Allied Distillers, wanted to commit to Laphroaig a...
The inside track
from Issue 4 published on 13/6/1999
Neil Wilson vistis Loch Lomond Distillery, where four pot stills and a continuous still add up to seven single malts and a soon-to-be-released single blend. And it's done with technology, not mirrors
On one of my trips north to Speyside some years ago I recall an American visitor asking the be-kilted Australian tour guide at Glenfiddich what a ‘double malt’ was. Her confusion had been prompted by the fact that so many distillers referred to ‘single malts’. I sympathized with her entirely.
All ...
Whisky Production
from Issue 3 published on 13/5/1999
The peat-reek and iodine fullness of Laphroaig is the epitome of Islay; and it has changed little since the distillery was founded in the early nineteenth century, says Neil Wilson
Laphroaig's situation , on Islay's rugged south coast, cna only impress. Bracken-clad greenstone outcrops shield the distillery from the worst of the weather coming off the bay; beyond them, on a still September day, a heron is perched motionless by the water and a seal, some distance offshore, smoo...
Distillery Focus
from Issue 1 published on 12/1/1999
