Ardbeg 1974-2000 - Provenance 4th Release - 55.0%

INFORMATION

Ardbeg 1974 - 2000. Provenance 4th Release. Bottled for the US and Asian market. 750ml. 55.0%.

The fourth and final edition of Ardbeg’s legendary 1974 Provenance releases, this was bottled in September 2000 from some of the best of the sensational 1974 casks inherited by Glenmorangie when they took over the distillery in 1997. Ardbeg 1974 Provenance 4th Release was an edition of just 750 bottles released in the US and Asian markets and is consequently one of the harder versions to find on this side of the pond.

DISTILLERY:Ardbeg

DISTILLERY STATUS:Working

Bottle ABV:55.0%

Bottle SIZE:75cl / 750ml

BOTTLER:Distillery Bottling

SPIRIT TYPE:Scotland

LIMITED EDITION:yes

CASK TYPE:Single Malt

REGION:Islay

DISTILLED YEAR:1974

BOTTLING DATE::2000

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.