During the last few years, whisky has seen remarkable growth as a collectible entity, along the lines previously reserved for gold, fine wines, art or classic cars. It has become an investment commodity as well as something to be collected, traded and even consumed by dedicated aficionados.

This development thas been reflected in the proliferation of specialist whisky auctions, held by long-established auction houses such as Christie's and Bonham's, with sales taking place in London, Edinburgh, New York, and more frequently, Hong Kong. Additionally, the rise of the internet has led to many dedicated online whisky auction sites around the world.

In this new era, Ardbeg performs very well, as evidenced by the research of the world's first consultancy expert in brokering, collecting, valuations, insight and intelligence, Rare Whisky 101 (www.rarewhisky101.com).

RW101 is headed by former Macallan Master Distiller David Robertson, and ex-corporate banker Andy Simpson, and the Rare Whisky 101 collectors index shows the most heavily traded distilleries from both a volume and a value perspective.

The index is created using UK auction data from the 31st of December 2008 onwards, and is updated every six months to show changes and trends in the market.

In early 2018, Macallan headed the index with 100 points, followed by Ardbeg on 99, and with Bowmore in third place on 97. Describing Ardbeg as "Highly sought after," Robertson noted that the RW101 database contained "803 variants. This can cover multiples of the same bottle if they have different fill levels, label damage etc. 306 of those were bottled by the distiller, while the rest were from 15 independent bottlers." Of these, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and G&M accounted for 78 each, Cadenhead for 75, Douglas Laing for 66.

With a burgeoning cult status and very few bottlings released prior to Glenmorangie's acquisition of the distillery in 1997, there is relatively little ‘old' Ardbeg to collect, making every limited release under Glenmorangie instantly attractive to aficionados.

A number of expressions released in the last decade have more than quadrupled in price, while, somewhat surprisingly, some the original distillery bottlings from the 1970s remain relatively affordable. Provenance, and a few of the single cask releases, have attained particularly high values, sometimes well in excess of £3,000.

One of the world's leading Ardbeg collectors is Geert Bero, co-owner of the Hotel Bero in Ostend, Belgium. The hotel was established by his great-grandfather in 1921 as "a pub with just three bedrooms above it." Not only does Geert's collection encompass virtually every distillery bottling of Ardbeg ever released, including each label variant and market-specific bottling, but he also has many duplicates.

Geert usually has in excess of 100 open bottles, many of which may be sampled in the Hotel Bero's ‘On the Rocks' whisky bar, which boasts some 90 whiskies. They are also used for sampling sessions, and, of course, for simply enjoying with friends in his Ardbeg- themed studio apartment. Among his many whisky- related activities, Geert is a member of the exclusive Lindores Whisky Society, which has its clubroom base at the Hotel Bero. It comprises 11 friends from all over Belgium who visit festivals and Scotch whisky distilleries several times a year. The Society even hosts its own annual festival at the Hotel Bero.

"Ardbeg has been made what it is by the people out there who drink it," insists Geert. "I think Ardbeg made its name because of the old bottlings, which connoisseurs have bought and opened." His personal interest in Scotch whisky began in 1998, when "I drank some 14-year-old Oban, and that got me hooked on single malts. Then, in 2002 I was at a tasting in our hotel which had an Ardbeg single cask bottling in it and that wasso good I said I had to have more, even although I already had bottles of the 10 and 17-year-olds.

"Back in 2002 Ardbeg was just beginning to become popular, but you could still afford to buy the older bottlings. The most I paid for a bottle was €1,900. That was a rare clear bottle with a black label and white letters. My advice to anyone contemplating starting to collect Ardbeg now is simple. Think twice, as prices have already risen a great deal, and there's going to be a lot of money involved."

Geert aims to have at least one example of every official bottling in his collection, no matter how minor the variations. As he explains, "Even a small change in a back label is significant. But this is Utopia, because I don't know if I'll ever find some of the oldest bottlings. The hunt is sometimes more fun than the final discovery of what you've been looking for."

He makes the significant point that "I'm a whisky drinker as well as a collector. I always have a lot of bottles open. It's sad when people collect whisky and don't know what it tastes like."

Geert has high praise for Ardbegs from the early 1970s, but says that he also enjoys even older expressions, dating from the 1950s and 60s. He describes these as having a ‘dirty' character to them, and points out that there is a mellowness to their peatiness that is no longer necessarily the case in more recent bottlings. He notes that peat then was simply a fuel used to dry making barley, where as now it has become something of a raison d'etre for the most characterful Islay single malts. When asked about his favourite Ardbeg bottlings, Geert selects a 1959 Cadenhead 25 Years Old, a 1967 Signatory Pale Oloroso Cask (#575) and 1976 Cask #2392, bottled for Feis Ile 2002. However, pride of place in his collection goes to a Glencairn decanter of The President's Malt, one of just two produced and filled from a 1975 sherry cask in July 2011, and subsequently sold by sealed bid at an ICAS (Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland) Responsibility Group charity auction

Along with fellow Scotch whisky devotees, Geert makes regular pilgrimages to Scotland to visit distilleries and purchase whisky, and sometimes the purchasing can get a little out of hand, as he recalls of one trip undertaken in 2004. "That time we had three people in the car and 140 bottles on the way home! Fortunately for us, the customs officer at Rosyth in Fife where we were catching the ferry back to Belgium looked at all the bottles and just said ‘Okay, drive on.' He didn't mind—we'd just been supporting the Scottish economy."

Collecting any commodity can become an obsession, but as someone whose bottles are frequently opened and consumed too, Geert is always on the lookout for sources of well-priced Ardbeg. "One day in 2003, I got an email from the guy at World of Whiskies at Heathrow Airport," he says. "He told me they had bottles of Ardbeg Provenance at £225 per bottle. In Belgium it was already selling for the equivalent of £700 per bottle. So, I flew from Brussels to Heathrow and never left terminal four. I just bought seven bottles of it and waited for the next flight back. That's how crazy you can be for a bottle of whisky!"

As that anecdote illustrates, having established a reputation as one of the leading collectors of Ardbeg, Geert is often approached by individuals and retailers offering to sell him bottles of Ardbeg, and these offers are rarely turned down.

Following are some tasting notes on early Glenmorangie releases

Ardbeg Provenance (first released 1997) 55.6% ABV

"A very great whisky. The Asia bottling of 2000 at 55%ABV is the best. The Provenance from 1974 is avatting of casks which has some amazing whiskies in. it." Geert Bero

Ardbeg Lord of the Isles (first released 2001) 46.0%ABV

"For price and quality, it's one of the best Ardbeg's on the market. The first batch, from 2001, is the best. A lot of Sherry influence and a really nice, drinkable whisky. You can easily drink several glasses of it. It has a kind of lightness. If you drank a Lord of the Isles then a Macallan you would still be able to taste the Macallan properly. That's a mark of how drinkable Lord of the Isles is. The earlier batches were heavier—maybe some Kildalton spirit went into the later ones to make it lighter" Geert Bero

Ardbeg Uigeadail (first released 2003) 54.2% ABV "It has changed quite a lot from bottling to bottling. The 2003 is the best, but then the first batch of anything released is almost always the best. I like the Sherry influence in this expression, I think it works very well, and I like the aspect of mystique in the Gaelic names given to this and to bottlings like Airigh Nam Beist." Geert Bero

Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist (first released 2006) 46.0%ABV

"A round, full whisky; well matured. The 2006 rotation in particular is very good" Geert Bero

Ardbeg Mor (first released 2007) 57.3%ABV

"A big whisky in every sense. It's a good whisky, and if you compare it to the Very Young you see how important maturation is to whisky" Geert Bero

Vintages

1975 (bottled in 1989/99/2000/2001)
"all fantastic whiskies." Geert Bero

1977 (bottled in 2001 and 2004)

"Very peaty, yet clean and sharp as a knife." Geert Bero

1990 (bottled in 2004)

"Not the best 1990, but I still like it. I think the best 1990 is Airigh Nam Beist." Geert Bero

Single Casks

Cask 2391 Manager's Choice (Released 1999) 56%ABV

"My personal favourite is the Manager's Choice Cask 2391 bottling from 1976. Oloroso Sherry together with peated whisky, it's a really good marriage. The dark Sherry style works really well with Ardbeg. It's got everything—complexity, sweet aromas of the Sherry and lovely peat. A cracking choice by Stuart, his first Single Cask Manager's Choice, and it certainly proved he has a. real nose for it!" Geert Bero

Other favourite single cask bottlings of Geert Bero include "Cask 2782 from 1972, Cask 2781, bottled for the French market and Cask 2780, done for the Danish. market. These were from ex-Bourbon casks and were clearer and sharper than my overall favourite Cask 2391, different but also very good. The Islay Festival bottling for 2002, Cask 2390 also comprises the dark Sherry and peated whisky combination. I think it's sad that none of the Islay distilleries fill a lot of Sherry casks anymore. There are alot of good single cask releases out there if you can find them."

 The 10,000th cask filled under Glenmorangie's ownership will no doubt become very desirable and collectable.

Ten Ardbeg Single Cask bottlings from 2^nd batch

Ardbeg Single Cask bottlingfs from 3^rd and 4^th batch

Key Bottlings Prior To 1997

Botttlings Since 1997 (Exc Single Casks)

Botttlings Since 1997 (Exc Single Casks)

Single Cask Bottlings Since 1997

Single Cask Bottlings Since 1997 cont.

Written by Gavin D Smith & Graevie Wallace

The text is an excerpt from "Ardbeg: Heavenly Peated" (pp. 199 - 215), written by Gavin D Smith & Graevie Wallace, published 2018 by Hogback Publishing.