End Date : Jun 24 2026 08:00 PM
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Ardbeg 1975 - 1990. 15 Year Old. Bottled by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Society cask number 33.10. 70cl. 54.9%. 96.1 Proof. No box.
An early bottling of Ardbeg 1975 bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in September 1990 after 15 years of maturation. Released from single cask #33.10 at its natural cask strength of 54.9% ABV, this bottling yielded just 262 bottles.
Bottled during the formative years of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, this release captures Ardbeg from one of the distillery's most celebrated periods. The mid-1970s vintages have become increasingly revered for their combination of powerful Islay peat smoke, tropical fruit character and remarkable complexity, representing a style of Ardbeg that many consider among the finest ever produced.
By the time this whisky was bottled in 1990, Ardbeg was still years away from the renaissance that would transform its fortunes in the late 1990s. As a result, relatively few casks from this era survived to become official or independent releases, making bottlings such as this highly sought after today.
We've auctioned quite a few early SMWS Ardbeg from the distillery's legendary 1970s vintage period but this is the first time for this 33.10 release.
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.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) began in late 1970s Edinburgh when founder Pip Hills persuaded a group of friends to chip in for a cask of Glenfarclas, and was officially formalised in 1983. Today the SMWS has members rooms in Edinbrugh, Glasgow and London and a string of international partnerships serving its 40,000 members.
The Society’s whiskies are known for their unique SMWS coding system. Each cask bottled is assigned two numbers, representing the distillery and the bottling number, so 1.45 is the forty-fifth cask bottled from the first distillery and 33.27 is the 27th cask from the 33rd distillery.
Glenmorangie bought the Society in 2004, but sold it in 2015 to a private consortium who floated the SMWS on the stock market in 2021 via their holding company Artisanal Spirits Co.
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| BID | DATE | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £2,500.00 | 23rd June 2026 | 06:06 PM | |
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No Product Found
By placing a bid, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by Whisky-Online Auctions' Terms and Conditions of Sale.
You acknowledge that your bid is binding and irrevocable.
If you are the successful bidder, a legally binding contract for the purchase of the Lot will be formed in accordance with the Terms and Conditions. You agree to pay the hammer price together with the Buyer's Premium, any applicable VAT and all other charges payable under those Terms, including delivery charges where applicable.
By bidding, you confirm that you are authorised to place the bid, are acting on your own behalf or have full authority to act on behalf of another person or entity, and have the financial means to complete the purchase if your bid is successful.