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End Date : Jun 24 2026 08:00 PM
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Ardbeg 1974 - 1995. Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for their Connoisseurs Choice series. 70cl. 40%. No box.
Distilled in 1974 and bottled in 1995 by Gordon & MacPhail for their Connoisseurs Choice range, this Ardbeg is a great example of the old-style Islay malt that helped establish the distillery's legendary reputation. Released during a period when mature Ardbeg was rare.
The Connoisseurs Choice series has long been regarded as one of the most influential independent bottling ranges in Scotch whisky, with Gordon & MacPhail selecting and maturing casks from many of Scotland's finest distilleries. By the mid-1990s, Ardbeg's 1970s vintages were already gaining a reputation for their distinctive balance of peat smoke, maritime character and remarkable complexity.
Today, these early Connoisseurs Choice Ardbeg releases are increasingly difficult to find. Bottled at a traditional strength of 40% ABV and presented in the classic map-label livery of the era, this is a great example of mature Ardbeg from one of the distillery's most sought-after decades.
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.
Founded in Elgin as a merchant grocer and wine and spirits wholesaler in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail are one of the oldest independent whisky bottlers in Scotland. Co-founder James Gordon owned shares in Longmorn, Strathisla and Glen Grant, and Gordon & MacPhail were soon bottling officially licensed single malts from several distilleries and sending empty casks from their wine business to be filled with new make spirit and returned for maturation in their Elgin warehouses.
Gordon & MacPhail pioneered high strength single malts at 100 proof (57%) in the 1950s, and in 1968 the company launched Connoisseurs Choice, one of the first integrated ranges of small batch independent whisky bottlings. After finally becoming distillers themselves with the purchase of Benromach in 1993, in 2010 Gordon & MacPhail bottled the first 70-year-old single malt whisky (a Mortlach 1938) and in 2020 the company released the first ever 80-year-old whisky: Glenlivet 1940.
| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £270.00 | 18th June 2026 | 10:20 AM | |
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