Ardbeg 1992 The Old Malt Cask 21 Year Old - 15th Anniversary

Hunter Laing & Co was established in 2013 by Stewart Laing. Having co-managed his father's Douglas Laing company with his brother Fred since 1982, the two eventually decided to split the company assets and strike out on their own with two separate enterprises. Stewart was joined by his two sons, Andrew and Scott, absorbing their Edition Spirits company in the process. Hunter Laing had grand ambitions beyond its traditional independent bottling roots, and announced its plans to open Ardnahoe distillery on Islay in 2016. The first casks were filled there two years later under the guidance of the legendary Jim McEwan.

The Old Malt Cask series is one of the most established independent labels on the market. It was launched by Douglas Laing in 1998 and bottled by them until 2013 when the brand became part of the Hunter Laing portfolio instead. This special release was one of the earliest Hunter Laing releases, a premium presentation of the label to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

This Ardbeg is one of 136 bottles.

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 bottle is being sold from the Pat's Whisk(e)y private collection which, numbering in excess of 9,000 bottles and over 2,000 miniatures, is the single largest collection of whisky ever to be brought to auction. Pat's Whisk(e)y is the result of over fifteen years of passion and dedication to the goal of creating one of the most complete libraries of whisky and whiskey ever amassed by an individual collector. It contains bottles from over 150 different Scottish distilleries, as well as bourbon, rare Scotch releases from sought-after independent bottlers in Europe, and whisky from other distilleries across the globe. Whisky Auctioneer is delighted to have partnered with Pat's Whisk(e)y to offer this collection across a number of exclusive and spotlight auctions. For more information, please click here.