1997 was a triumphant year for the Islay giant Ardbeg - the distillery had marked its return from a series of closures in the 1980's and in the early 1990's - and this time it was finally back for good, much to the excitement of its large fanbase in the form of the Ardbeg Committee.

To celebrate, the distillery had released a 17 Years Old Ardbeg Single Malt expression that was amongst the first bottles to come from the distillery since its reopening. In the 25 years since, the distillery has become known for its ever changing line up of limited editions that continues to keep things exciting, and thus in 2004, the 17 Years Old was retired.

Yet to mark the quarter of a century in which the Islay distillery has become more popular than ever, its Master Distiller Dr. Bill Lumsden has been quietly planning for the 17 Years Old to make a return.

And now the legend is back.

"Finally we had enough of the lightly peated and slightly more elegant stock to do it, so we put it together on that basis. The subtle differences are the new one is maybe just alittle bit more aromatic, bit more of the pine resin or lime juice, but many, many similarities in that lovely, creamy, malty, biscuity base. We brought it back to life, and I think people are gonna love it." says Dr. Bill Lumsden.

The distillery says that this new Ardbeg 17 Years Old has been crafted to mirror the original, retracing the flavour profile note by note, and thus also opting to bottle it at 40% ABV chill-filtered, just as the original Ardbeg 17 Years Old had been bottled.

The new Ardbeg 17 Years Old will be made available in the UK from Ardbeg.com on Tuesday 24th September 2024.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team