Ardbeg 1976 Douglas of Drumlanrig / Scotch Single Malt Circle

You would not think it to see it now, but Ardbeg had a difficult time of it for much of the 20th century. The distillery was bought in a joint venture between Hiram Walker and DCL in 1959, both intending to supply their blends. The subsequent years were very successful, but DCL backed out in 1979 (closing many of their other distilleries a few years later), and Hiram Walker then struggled in the 1980s era oversupply when interest is blended Scotch was waning. They closed it down for the majority of the decade. It re-opened briefly in the 1990s before being revived for good by Glenmorangie plc in 1997. The lack of demand in the period prior to this, thankfully, saw a lot of casks sold to independent bottlers, many of which have gone on to become legendary releases.

This Ardbeg was distilled in March 1976 and matured in a single cask. It was bottled at cask strength by Langside Distillers in September 2001, exclusively for the Scotch Single Malt Circle.

Langside Distillers started out as a blending company in the 1970s, producing Scotch brands such as B&B, Glen Drumm and John Player Special. They moved into the business of bottling independent single malts with their Douglas of Drumlanrig label in the 2000s, before becoming a subsidiary of Hunter Laing in 2013. Nowadays they produce its Distiller’s Art and Hepburn’s Choice bottlings.