Ardbeg Day 2018

The time of year is upon us again, where peatheads and Ardbeg groupies queue outside embassies to taste (and hopefully buy a bottle of) the annual Ardbeg limited release. Ardbeg Day on June 2nd, will be celebrated across all continents and coincides with the distillery's open day during Feis Ile, the Islay Festival of Music and Malt.

In what is now standard Ardbeg style, each year has a theme, taken from the limited release bottling. This year's theme is Peat & Love and promises to be the grooviest Ardbeg Day yet, since the release this year is Ardbeg Grooves! For this bottling, director of distilling, whisky creation and whisky stocks, Dr Bill Lumsden, has matured part of the whisky in re-toasted red wine casks. These casks were intensely charred to create heavy grooves in the surface of the wood, designed to produce more intense flavours.

GROOVES AVAILABILITY

On June 2nd, both our store and our bar will have Ardbeg Grooves available for purchase (price TBC), limited to 2 bottles per person, while stocks last! And to be clear: stocks won't last. We had asked and were hoping for a bigger allocation of the limited release this year but we are actually getting less- only 120 bottles. We can only assume this means sales of the standard Ardbeg range in South Africa are down, and thus the allocation of the limited release is down too. (So make sure when you buy your Grooves you buy a 10yo- it's your duty as an Ardbeg fan!) 

ARDBEG TASTINGS

To celebrate Ardbeg Day on Saturday, June 2nd, we are having two events, both will be held at our bar:

12PM to 6PM | Come celebrate Ardbeg Day with us by trying Grooves (R79), or by having a mini Ardbeg tasting (R200) of the 10yo, Uigeadail, Correyvreckan and Grooves. We'll have some groovy music playing, decor reminiscent of the summer of peat & love and all-round groovy times. No booking necessary. 

7PM to 10PM | A more formal and in-depth tasting (R800) with the 10yo, An Oa, Grooves, Alligator, Kelpie Committee and Supernova 2015. Includes food. Only 25 seats available. SOLD OUT.