LOT ID: 0224-161
End Date : Mar 20 2024 08:00 PM
Ardbeg Uigeadail. Bottled between 2003-2005. 70cl. 54.2%. In presentation box.
Ardbeg Uigeadail was a smash as soon as it hit the UK’s shelves in 2003. Bottled at ‘traditional strength’ - a poky 54.2%, equivalent to 95 Imperial proof - the early batches of Uigeadail released in 2003 and 2004 came from a vatting of bourbon barrels of the 1993 vintage mixed with ‘older’ sherry casks. This high strength, sherry-influenced smoky whisky was exactly what many fans were looking for and these early batches of Uigeadail are deeply revered nowadays.
FILLING LEVEL
Into Neck
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.
Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.
This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.
BID | DATE | TIME | |
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£250.00 | 19th March 2024 | 04:15 | |