Ardbeg Distillery

Overview

2024 Update - Ardbeg's summer schedule of distillery tours has not been released at the time of writing (26 January 2024).

TO BOOK TOURS – email [email protected] - It’s advisable to book in advance to avoid disappointment.

Ardbeg, like Bruichladdich, is a distillery that was completely closed down in 1981 and left to decay until 1997. The distillery has now been extensively refurbished and you would never guess that it was once abandoned. The disitillery manager lives on site so there is a chance that he will be guiding your tour.

Ardbeg is the peatiest of the Islay malts so you may find that is an acquired taste, but once acquired it will probably become a favourite. The distillery is in a very picturesque location and, like most of the Islay distilleries, has warehouses that sit right on the seashore with waves lapping against them.

A nice feature of the tour is that you get to taste the product at the different stages of it "development". You can sample the beer like "Wash" at the first stage of fermentation, then there is the pure unmatured spirit as it comes out of the stills into the barrels, and finally you may taste some of the finished Ardbeg malt.

Even if you don’t go on the distillery tour we would still recommend that you visit Ardbeg for its excellent restaurant the Old Kiln Café, which is open from noon to 4:30pm. The visitor shop is also well stocked with lots of clothing in the attractive olive green Ardbeg colours and Tartan.