Ardbeg 10YO has a high concentration of heavy peat flavor, which makes connoisseurs who love Scottish or Islay whisky admire it. For peat lovers, it may be the highest quality entry-level single malt whisky on the market. In terms of style, the flavor of Ardbeg 10YO Single Malt is definitely a classic among classics on Islay. In addition to the easily recognizable peat and sea breeze, you can also taste the delicate malt aroma and the natural sweetness of the oak barrel; although the wine is rough, the smell is steady and fresh, accompanied by the aroma of fruits and even flowers.
Jim Murray, the author of the Whisky Bible, has given it a score of over 97 points for more than a decade, making it the world's top 10-year-old single malt whisky!
In the brewing process, Ardbeg does not use cold filtration like ordinary whiskeys before bottling, which makes the wine naturally turbid; it retains the pure, complex and natural flavor of Ardbeg 10YO. The thick peat smoke flavor, complete and refined structure, light mint flavor, and mellow aftertaste make it a super whiskey worth recommending.
Ardbeg has always been known for its heavy peat style, with many of its wines having a peat phenol value of 50-60 ppm. Except for a few extremely rich limited edition whiskies, it is one of the whisky distilleries with the highest content. Although it has a strong peat smoke flavor, Ardbeg's wines can still maintain a sweet fruity and floral aroma, which is sweet and delicious. This unique style has created the iconic "peat paradox".
After obtaining a license in 1815, it was officially established by John Macdougall. It is a whisky distillery with a history of more than 200 years. It is located on the coast of Islay, and the name Ardbeg is the Englishization of the Scottish Gaelic An Àird Bheag, which means a small cape.
According to Alfred Barnard's book The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, Ardbeg was the largest distillery in Islay by 1887, producing 1.1 million litres per year.
After being purchased by Hiram Walker in 1977, Ardbeg ceased production in 1981. Fortunately, it was purchased by Allied Lyons in 1987 and resumed limited production. It was not until 1997 that it was purchased by another Scottish giant, Glenmorangie, and resumed full production. In order to avoid the end of its great achievements, Ardbeg quickly established the Ardbeg Committee after it regained its sight. The committee is composed of supporters from all over the world to ensure that "Ardbeg's door will never be closed." The committee now has 120,000 members in 130 countries around the world.
Since then, Ardbeg has returned to the top ranks and has won numerous awards. The most valuable one is that this most classic 10-year-old model won the Whisky of the Year award in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible in 2008, which greatly affirmed Ardbeg’s classic style and status. After that, each wine has successively won the "best" award, including Uigeadail being named the world's best whisky of the year in 2009, and Supernova won the best Scottish whisky of the year in 2010. Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Galileo won the world's best single malt whisky awards in 2010 and 2013 respectively. All these awards have made Ardbeg's current classic peated whisky unshakable.
Even in 2020, Micky Heads, who had produced 13 vintages, retired and passed the business to Colin Gordon, but the legend of Ardbeg has continued. In 2021, the distillery was renovated, and the distiller was increased from 2 to 4, which doubled the production. In 2022, Ardbeg sold a barrel of 1975 original barrel wine to a private collector for 16 million euros, breaking the record of the highest original barrel held by Macallan.
