Ardbeg Ten is announced World Whisky of the Year

Ardbeg Ten Years Old has been awarded the ultimate accolade, as World Whisky of the Year. Internationally acclaimed whisky expert, Jim Murray, author of ‘The Whisky Bible’ has furthered the honour by making this the first single malt Scotch winner ever. Ardbeg 10 Years Old is also accorded Scotch Single Malt of the Year at the same time.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Ardbeg suffered from an uncertain future and it was not until Ardbeg was purchased by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997 that the distillery was saved from extinction. Since then, the distillery has risen like a phoenix and today Ardbeg is well established as a niche, cult malt, with a passionate following amongst aficionados around the world. Hamish Torrie, Ardbeg Marketing Manager said “Jim’s accolade of identifying Ardbeg as the best whisky in the world is a huge compliment to the skill and expertise of our Whisky Team, led by Dr Bill Lumsden, which has consistently managed to balance - precisely and deliciously - the Ardbeg stocks we inherited in the run up to our own much anticipated stock which becomes available next year.” The Whisky Bible is always an invaluable source of information, and humour, for malt lovers and of course we are absolutely delighted that Ardbeg has won this award.” In his 2008 Whisky Bible Jim Murray says of Ardbeg: “To me Ardbeg is - and always has been – the most complex malt on earth. And has since added: “I have been visiting the Distillery for nearly 30 years - long before anybody had heard of Ardbeg. And because I have long regarded this the finest Distillery in the world, I actually try to handicap the sample to iron out any natural bias. “However, this particular bottling of Ten Years Old is unquestionably the best expression of Ten Years Old Ardbeg since legendary - though rarely tasted - 1983/4 bottlings. So as much as I tried, I had to give World Whisky of the Year to Ardbeg Ten…it is simply that magnificent.”

This story was published with kind permission from the Ileach. Picture: Mark Unsworth - Islay Studios.