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Ardbeg 1974 - 1992. 17 Year Old. Bottled by Signatory Vintage. Cask number 2026. One of 1,200 bottles. 70cl. 43%. In presentation box.
A magnificent early independent bottling of Ardbeg 1974 from Signatory Vintage, distilled on 10 May 1974 and matured for 17 years before being bottled in March 1992. Drawn from cask number 2026 at 43% ABV, this release yielded 1,200 bottles and represents whisky from one of Ardbeg's most revered production eras, long before the distillery's revival under Glenmorangie in the late 1990s.
During the 1970s, Ardbeg produced a richly peated spirit renowned for combining powerful maritime smoke with remarkable elegance and complexity. The 1974 vintage has become legendary among collectors, with whiskies from this period consistently regarded as some of the finest ever produced by the distillery. Independent bottlings from the early 1990s such as this are now exceptionally scarce, preserving the character of Ardbeg at a time when mature stocks remained relatively plentiful.
Presented in Signatory Vintage's classic dumpy bottle, this Ardbeg is an excellent example of the company's earliest releases. Signatory, founded by Andrew Symington in 1988, quickly earned a reputation for sourcing and bottling outstanding single casks, and these original early-1990s presentations have become highly collectible in their own right. Combining a legendary vintage, early Signatory provenance and increasingly elusive original packaging, this is a superb bottle for both Ardbeg enthusiasts and collectors of classic independent Scotch whisky.
Founded in 1815, Ardbeg is one of Islay’s iconic distilleries. Ardbeg was purchased by Diageo forerunners DCL and Hiram Walker in 1973, with Walker taking full control in 1977, the year the distillery’s maltings were closed. Ardbeg was mothballed for most of the 1980s; production began again in 1989 under new owners Allied Lyons, but only for two months a year until 1996 when the distillery closed again. In 1997 the dilapidated Ardbeg distillery was bought by Glenmorangie plc (now part of LVMH) and its fortunes turned. Ardbeg was restored and relaunched, kickstarting the craze for heavily peated single malt whisky.
Ardbeg was seldom commercially available before the Allied/DCL takeover - the old white label official bottlings are now very rare. Allied bottled a handful of black label Ardbegs in the 1990s including the popular Ardbeg 30-year-old. The breakthrough bottlings were the Ardbeg 17-year-old and Ardbeg 1974 Provenance released by Glenmorangie in 1997 - these were soon followed by numerous magnificent single casks from 1970s vintages that cemented Ardbeg’s reputation. Independent Ardbeg is uncommon nowadays.
Signatory Vintage Whisky Company was founded by Andrew Symington in 1988 after a spell as assistant manager at the Prestonfield House Hotel, where he had the opportunity to buy a cask of Glenlivet 1968. A robust and canny businessman, Symington had soon acquired some outstanding parcels of casks from great distilleries, and quickly established a reputation among single malt fans for good value, high quality single casks, the majority of which were released at full strength.
Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Signatory released outstanding whisky from Ardbeg, Glenfarclas, Springbank and many more, with frequently remarkable examples of lost or obscure distilleries. Soon established as one of the leading new wave independent bottlers, Symington was also an early exponent of bottling whiskies without colouring or chill filtration, a policy that has also served Signatory well at their Edradour distillery, which was purchased in 2002.
| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10.00 | 29th July 2026 | 09:20 PM | |
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