Ardbeg – 15 Year Old 2005 - Feis Ile 2021 #5460 (70cl, 56.8%)

Ardbeg – 15 Year Old 2005 - Feis Ile 2021 #5460 is a single malt whisky from Ardbeg (Islay). Aged 15 years, bottled at 56.8% ABV, 70cl. Known for its outstandingly smoky drams, the Islay Distillery, Ardbeg was founded by John McDougall in 1815 after taking out a licence. Just under a century later, the name 'Ardbeg' and signature 'A' were registered as a trademark, an iconic recognisable logo for the distillery. Further on in the 20th century, the distillery started outsourcing, using a peated malt from the nearby Port Ellen Distillery in 1974 just before Ardbeg was mothballed for the first time in 1981. Reopened again by Allied Distillers in 1989, it was not long before the distillery was closed for a second time, however, the Glenmorangie Company saved the day by purchasing Ardbeg just before both Glenmorangie and Ardbeg became part of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. Being awarded World Whisky of the Year more than once, the distillery will continue to succeed, with the plans submitted of increasing the distillation capacity by adding not one, but two more stills in 2018, Ardbeg is only going upwards from here. This single cask was distilled on the 29th of November 2005 and bottled 15 years later on the 10th of March 2021. The maturation took place in a 2nd fill Oloroso Sherry Butt and is one of only 595 bottles. This cask was originally earmarked for their Supernova release, which is their smokiest series of expressions to date. However, as time went on and it was resampled the complexity was beginning to reveal itself and worthy to be released as a single cask #5460.