Ardbeg 1980 Kildalton

Quite simply, a legendary Ardbeg. Released in 2004, this was a combination of experimental unpeated Ardbeg and lightly peated Ardbeg. It is known that these experiments took place between 1979 and 1981.

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.

A mere 1,300 bottles of Kildalton were bottled and it is certainly a popular collectors item now.