Ardbeg - 23 Year Y2K Edition

Ardbeg

23 Year Y2K Edition

46% ABV • Whisky • 700ml • Sold Out

Single Malt Whisky from Islay in Scotland

$1086.87 + tax and deposit

$1,032.53 for Whisky Folk Members

Bottle Info
Video
Distillery Info
Bottler Info
Review

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PRODUCER
Ardbeg

BOTTLER
Official Distillery Release by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy

AGE
23 Years Aged, Distilled 2000

CASK TYPE
Ex Oloroso

RELEASE
Standard Limited Edition Release

CHILL-FILTRATION
No

ADDED COLOUR
No

PEAT SMOKED
Yes

From The Official Website

While the year 2000 will be remembered by many for bootcut jeans, flip phones and the elusive millennium bug, it went down in Ardbeg history for very different reasons.

Following decades of neglect, the Distillery had been saved from extinction by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997 and meticulously restored. As the clock ticked over from 1999 to 2000, Ardbeg was returning to full production. And while the rest of the world partied, with many distilleries shut down in fear of computerised chaos, its dedicated stillmen stayed up all night to keep the spirit flowing.

Crafted with some of the very first spirit of the millennium, the inaugural edition in the Ardbeg Vintage Y2K series is unlike anything that came before. It was distilled in the historic still which served Ardbeg for 51 years, before being retired in 2001. And with an increased rigour applied to cask selection under the new ownership, the whisky was laid down in some of the finest bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks around.

Committee Chair and Distillery Visitor Centre Manager Jackie Thomson said: ‘The turn of the millennium was a milestone for Ardbeg in so many ways â not least the formation of our Committee, the lifeblood of Ardbeg. With Y2K fashion and culture now back with a vengeance, we’re inviting Ardbeggians to turn back time to a remarkable year and enjoy the spirit of Ardbeg Vintage_Y2K.

AROMA: Herbal, sweet and fragrant, with a subtle, distant perfumed smokiness. Next a quirky, zesty note like lemon balsam emerges, along with a suggestion of linseed oil and candied walnuts. A splash of water and the fragrance intensifies, emitting heather honey, a touch of creosote and the tiniest trace of tent canvas.
TASTE: The texture is fizzy and effervescing (sherbety), with a real, vibrant effervescence on the tongue. At first the flavour is intensely sweet, then shifts as aniseed, toffee, digestive biscuits, peppermint, menthol, tar and coffee grits burst through.
FINISH: The sooty/tarry flavours keep building, until they finally dissolve into a long, lingering aftertaste of antiseptic lozenges, bitter oranges and oak tannins.

From The Official Website

While the year 2000 will be remembered by many for bootcut jeans, flip phones and the elusive millennium bug, it went down in Ardbeg history for very different reasons.

Following decades of neglect, the Distillery had been saved from extinction by The Glenmorangie Company in 1997 and meticulously restored. As the clock ticked over from 1999 to 2000, Ardbeg was returning to full production. And while the rest of the world partied, with many distilleries shut down in fear of computerised chaos, its dedicated stillmen stayed up all night to keep the spirit flowing.

Crafted with some of the very first spirit of the millennium, the inaugural edition in the Ardbeg Vintage Y2K series is unlike anything that came before. It was distilled in the historic still which served Ardbeg for 51 years, before being retired in 2001. And with an increased rigour applied to cask selection under the new ownership, the whisky was laid down in some of the finest bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks around.

Committee Chair and Distillery Visitor Centre Manager Jackie Thomson said: ‘The turn of the millennium was a milestone for Ardbeg in so many ways â not least the formation of our Committee, the lifeblood of Ardbeg. With Y2K fashion and culture now back with a vengeance, we’re inviting Ardbeggians to turn back time to a remarkable year and enjoy the spirit of Ardbeg Vintage_Y2K.

AROMA: Herbal, sweet and fragrant, with a subtle, distant perfumed smokiness. Next a quirky, zesty note like lemon balsam emerges, along with a suggestion of linseed oil and candied walnuts. A splash of water and the fragrance intensifies, emitting heather honey, a touch of creosote and the tiniest trace of tent canvas.
TASTE: The texture is fizzy and effervescing (sherbety), with a real, vibrant effervescence on the tongue. At first the flavour is intensely sweet, then shifts as aniseed, toffee, digestive biscuits, peppermint, menthol, tar and coffee grits burst through.
FINISH: The sooty/tarry flavours keep building, until they finally dissolve into a long, lingering aftertaste of antiseptic lozenges, bitter oranges and oak tannins.

Discover Ardbeg

Ardbeg

There are distilleries whose character is shaped by intention, and others that seem almost claimed by their surroundings. Ardbeg Distillery belongs firmly to the latter. Founded in 1815 on Islay’s southern coast, it has endured long periods of dormancy, most notably in the late twentieth century, before its revival under Glenmorangie Company at the close of the 1990s. That modern resurgence did not attempt to soften its identity, but rather to reassert it with clarity and confidence.

Its position on the Kildalton shore places it among a small cluster of neighbours, though Ardbeg’s personality is distinctly its own. The Atlantic is never far removed, its influence carried inland on salt-laden air that mingles with the dense, phenolic smoke that defines the distillery’s output. The landscape is elemental, low-slung buildings set against peat bog and sea, with little in the way of ornament. Even the water source, drawn from Loch Uigeadail, passes through peat-rich ground, contributing further to the distillery’s unmistakable profile.

Production at Ardbeg is unapologetically focused. Malted barley, heavily peated to upwards of 50 ppm, provides the foundation, yet the resulting spirit is not simply forceful but remarkably precise. Long fermentations encourage citrus and estery brightness, while relatively slow distillation in tall, narrow-necked stills promotes a surprising delicacy within the weight of smoke. Maturation is centred on ex-bourbon casks, though sherry wood appears in select expressions, most notably in releases such as Uigeadail. The house style is often described in superlatives, but more accurately it is a study in contrast, dense peat intertwined with clarity, sweetness, and a certain mineral tension that keeps the whole composition in balance.

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