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Ardbeg Cask
No.3 distilled in 1975 sells to a
private collector in Asia for an eye
watering price of £16 Million.
A single cask of Ardbeg single malt
whisky laid down back
in 1975 has sold for an incredible £16
Million.
The one-of-a-kind 1975 cask of Ardbeg
Islay single malt Scotch whisky, which
survived the Distillery’s two brushes
with closure, sold to a private
collector in Asia for the eye watering
price of £16 Million. The oldest ever
released by Ardbeg, "Cask No. 3" is
incomparably rare and precious, as fans
of the Islay distillery will know, very
little single malt was created at the
Distillery in the 1970s and it was
closed through much of the 80s and 90s.
The rare cask is described as a
"remarkable piece of liquid history" by
world-renowned whisky expert Charles
MacLean MBE, Cask No. 3 will be bottled
over the course of five years for its
owner, giving her an unparalleled
vertical collection of aged Ardbegs,
which cannot be replicated for at least
a decade. To celebrate the half-century
of patience and generations of
Distillery workers behind this
"vanishingly rare" whisky, Ardbeg will
donate £1 Million to causes on Islay
from the sale of the cask.
The sale far surpasses any previous
auction records for a cask of single
malt, Cask No. 3’s private sale is an
extraordinary milestone in Ardbeg’s 200
year history. While the Distillery is
famed for creating the world’s smokiest
drams – and is among the most highly
awarded of the smoky malts – its journey
has often been turbulent. In the 1970s,
the majority of its whisky was sold for
blending. And since just a few casks
each year were set aside for single malt
bottling, stock from that decade has
always been exceptionally hard to come
by. Then through most of the 1980s, the
Distillery was closed as its future hung
in the balance. While Ardbeg re-opened
for a time, it shut again in 1996 – some
thought for ever. Saved from extinction
the following year, the Distillery has
since gone from strength to strength.
Today it has a near-cult global
following, has won countless awards and
is enjoyed in the world’s most
prestigious bars. But Ardbeg’s darkest
days remain fresh in the memories of its
fans even now.
CEO Thomas Moradpour said: “This sale is
a source of pride for everyone in the
Ardbeg community who has made our
journey possible. Just 25 years ago,
Ardbeg was on the brink of extinction,
but today it is one of the most
sought-after whiskies in the world. That
is a reflection of generations of hard
work: from those in the stillhouse who
craft our smoky spirit, to the warehouse
staff who care for our casks over
decades, to teams around the world who
build the reputation of our whiskies
with fans, bartenders and collectors.
“While such a rare whisky is out of
reach for all but one of our fans, we
put the same passion and care into every
bottle of Ardbeg as went into this
exclusive single malt in 1975 – from
flagship Ardbeg Ten Years Old, to
limited-edition releases. Today, our new
stillhouse is working at full capacity
to make more Ardbeg available than ever,
and whisky creator Dr Bill Lumsden is
busy imagining many more surprising
smoky releases for Ardbeg fans. Because
when a business like Ardbeg gets
rewarded for 50 years of patience, it
gives us the confidence to keep
investing in the future of our
distillery, and in our island community.
The journey continues!”
Created in a bygone era when the
Distillery still malted its barley
onsite, the smoky, balanced spirit of
cask No. 3 was distilled on Tuesday,
25th November 1975, and laid down to age
in two separate casks – a bourbon and an
Oloroso sherry. Those casks were
patiently matured by generations of
Ardbeg’s skilled warehouse workers over
38 years. Then Ardbeg’s acclaimed
Director of Whisky Creation, Dr Bill
Lumsden, decided to marry the two casks,
creating an even more extraordinary
single malt. On 31st March 2014, he
transferred their whisky into a single
refill Oloroso butt, selected to give
only the subtlest of wood influence.
There it has remained ever since. Today,
more than 46 years after its story
began, this single malt is a smorgasbord
of sherried, smoky aromas and rich,
elegant tastes.
Over the next five years, Ardbeg will
continue to mature Cask No. 3 in a
secure location on Islay for its owner.
Every year, she will receive 88 bottles
from the cask. By 2026, this Ardbeg
enthusiast will possess a unique
vertical series of rare Ardbeg's from
1975, aged 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 years
old.
Dr Bill Lumsden, who will oversee the
cask’s ongoing maturation, said: "Cask
No. 3 is an extraordinary taste of
Ardbeg’s past. Its aromas are nutty,
herbal and smoky, while its tastes of
tar, espresso coffee and spearmint have
an astonishing finesse for a whisky of
such age. So little stock survives from
this era, that this cask really is one
of a kind. And its complex flavours are
testament to the extraordinary skill of
the Ardbeg team who have cared for it
over the decades. I look forward to
exploring how it continues to evolve
over the next five years."
Experts have hailed the sale of Cask No.
3 as an illustration of Ardbeg’s unique
appeal, and the investment value of
single malt Scotch. Praising its
exceptional quality, author and
world-renowned whisky expert Charles
MacLean MBE said: "This truly unique
whisky is a remarkable piece of liquid
history – an evocative taste of what
Ardbeg was like when it malted its own
barley. Many old whiskies can go flat
with age. But Cask No. 3 is a really
lovely whisky, hugely complex, still
having vitality after nearly half a
century."
On Ardbeg’s appeal to collectors, he
added: "The factors which make a
particular whisky investable are
threefold: rarity, flavour and variety.
And collectors do love Scotch, because
of the provenance and history.
Furthermore, there is a keen interest in
smoky Islay whiskies. And Ardbeg is
particularly rare – there just aren’t
many bottlings of this age out there."
Rare whisky has become increasingly
sought-after by investors in recent
years. Andrew Shirley, editor of the
renowned Knight Frank Wealth Report,
said: "Over the last 10 years rare
whisky has been the top performing asset
class in our Luxury Investment Index.
Our index, which tracks a basket of rare
bottles sold at auction, has increased
in value 428% over the last decade, and
9% in the past year. This record cask
sale has set a very interesting new
benchmark. Although the equivalent price
for a bottle – £36,000 – is comparable
to some of the rare bottles sold at
auction."
You will find Ardbeg's current whisky
range as well as some rare and
collectable Ardbeg bottlings
available from
specialist online whisky retailers such
as
The Whisky Exchange,
Hard To Find Whisky
and
Master of
Malt
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