Ardbeg Distillery
Ardbeg was founded in 1815 on the south coast of Islay. Famed as one of the most heavily peated malts in the world, it inspires something of a cult following with devoted fans travelling thousands of miles to visit the home of their favourite whisky.
Like many old distilleries, Ardbeg has had its fair share of ups and downs. Opening and closing as public demand for peated whisky ebbed and flowed. Production ceased and the site lay mothballed for much of the 1980s and ‘90s and things looked rather bleak for the small community that surrounded the distillery. The story of Ardbeg wasn’t finished, however. When Glenmorangie plc acquired the distillery and its stocks, a new chapter began…
The Corryvreckan
Today there are three core expressions of Ardbeg: the Ten Year Old, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, named after the strait of Corryvreckan, a body of water that sits to the north of the isle of Jura. This stretch of water has notoriously strong currents that clash to form the world’s third-largest whirlpool, capable of waves up to 30 feet high. It is said that the maelstrom can sometimes be heard up to ten miles away.
George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four (among other classic works) was himself almost a victim of the Corryvreckan. In 1947, while living on Jura, Orwell went sailing with two friends and his three-year-old son. In the unforgiving conditions they soon found themselves off-course and powerless to stop their small craft from being pulled towards the whirlpool. The force of the water sheared the engine from their boat, leaving them battling the current with their oars.
After what must have seemed an age, the water calmed enough to allow their escape and the men were able to row to a nearby outcrop, only to have their boat capsize and leave them stranded, a mile off Jura. The party were eventually rescued when passing Lobstermen saw their campfire and came to their aid. They returned to Jura relatively unscathed, though some speculate that Orwell’s dip in the icy waters contributed to his diagnosis of tuberculosis later the same year.
Ardbeg Corryvreckan Review
Bottled at a whopping 57.1%, Ardbeg Corryvreckan is a dram worthy of the name. Heavily peated, it is available for around £70 a bottle.
Smell: Intense smoke, ash and charcoal intermingle with vanilla, lemon citrus and a touch of creamy malt.
Taste: A huge mouthful in every sense. Honey and lemon, dollops of pepper and intense smoke. The windswept coast of Islay in a bottle.
Thoughts: At £70 a bottle, this isn’t a cheap dram and the lack of an age statement is likely to worry some, but make no mistake, the Corryvreckan is a dram of exceptional quality that easily justifies its asking price. For me, it is one of the best heavily peated single malt whiskies on the market and probably the best of the Ardbeg range. Magnificent whisky.
__________
Leave a Reply