Watch the new Ardbeg stillhouse grow
Ardbeg Distillery have unveiled their new purpose-built stillhouse to meet that growing demand as it will increase the Distillery’s capacity significantly.
The new stills were designed to the exact specification as the old ones – right down to the millimetre. The new building, located right on Ardbeg’s shoreline, is home to two wash stills and two spirit stills, as well as a feature picture window.
The launch of a new still comes with a degree of tradition. It’s customary to ‘sweeten’ a still with a handful of botanicals relevant to the spirit. This ritual is seen as a good luck charm among distillers. At Ardbeg, there is of course no better way to create the smoky malt flavours than with heather, peat and seaweed… pure Ardbeg magic. New stills don’t come around often, so reviving the age-old tradition is a once-in-a-generation moment.
Dugga Bowman, Head Warehouseman, was tasked to cut some peat at Kintour Moss on the Ardtalla Estate – about three miles from Ardbeg. This is where Dugga went to find a little slice of Ardbeg history.
In an informal ceremony at the Distillery, Colin Gordon had the honour of lowering the peat into the still, lifting it back out before the liquid ran through.
He said, “It’s not often a Distillery Manager gets to take part in something as special as this. I’m privileged to be here for it. We’ve really retained the soul of Ardbeg with this new stillhouse. We hope now there’ll be more of our Ultimate Islay malt to go around.”
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