Ardbeg

The McDougall family founded Ardbeg in 1815, and the Hay family took the licence in 1853. Hiram Walker took full control in 1979, and the distillery's own kiln was put out around 1981; from 1974 it had already bought peated malt from Port Ellen. Ardbeg was mothballed in 1981, restarted intermittently from 1989 and fell silent again in 1996. In 1997 Glenmorangie bought it and its stock for GBP 7 million, and both later passed to LVMH. Companies House shows Ardbeg Distillery Ltd owned by The Glenmorangie Company.

Ardbeg stands on Pier Road at Ardbeg, on the Kildalton coast of south Islay, east of Lagavulin. ScotchWhisky.com says that by the late nineteenth century it was a small community with housing, a hall and a school for 100 pupils. In 2018 plans were announced to double capacity with a second pair of stills in a new still house.