Ardbeg Completes Construction on New Stillhouse
Ardbeg has completed construction on their new stillhouse; built to meet growing demand for their spirit by increasing the distillery’s capacity from 1.4 million liters a year to 2.4 million a year.
To retain the Ardbeg character we all know and love, the new stills were designed to the exact specification as the old ones – right down to the millimeter. Even every nut, bolt and rivet had to be in the right place, or risk altering the character of the whisky.
The new stillhouse is located on Ardbeg’s shoreline and is home to two wash stills and two spirit stills, as well as a feature picture window where visitors will be able to take in the breathtaking views over the Atlantic while enjoying a dram of Ardbeg.
Upon the launch of a new still, it’s customary to ‘sweeten’ the still with a handful of botanicals relevant to the spirit, a ritual seen as a good luck charm among distillers. At Ardbeg, that naturally meant sweetening their new still with heather, peat, and seaweed. Historically, Ardbeg cut peat at Kintour Moss on the Ardtalla Estate, about three miles from the distillery. This is where Dugga Bowman, Head Warehouseman, went to find a patch of peat so that they could continue the age-old tradition.
In an informal ceremony at the distillery, Colin Gordon, Ardbeg’s new Distiller Manager, had the honour of lowering the peat into the still, lifting it back out before the liquid ran through. He said, “It’s not often a Distillery Manager gets to take part in something as special as this. I’m privileged to be here for it. We’ve really retained the soul of Ardbeg with this new stillhouse. We hope now there’ll be more of our Ultimate Islay malt to go around.”
Photo credit: Ardbeg.
Source: Ardbeg.