Founded in 1815 on the remote and untamed Scottish Isle of Islay, Ardbeg is an irrepressible spirit with a ‘rollercoaster’ history that has survived against the odds. A story characterised by glorious highs and perilous lows.

On 25 March 1981, Ardbeg Distillery was mothballed. The doors were shut. The taps were turned off. The stills fell silent. How long would it last? A few months? A few years? Forever? Cask 1/1981 is from those historic reserves – the last of that era.

Presented as The Rollercoaster’s first whisky, this exceptionally rare liquid is from the very last cask remaining from the stock of 1981. First distilled 11th March 1981, this bottling is very lightly peated in character – some of the last ever made in Ardbeg’s own maltings, creating a very lightly peated “Kildalton-style” Ardbeg.

Aged in bourbon casks, then transferred into a single Oloroso sherry cask for rich, spicy notes, it is an unrepeatable taste of Ardbeg’s past

In 1989, the arrival of new owners meant the Distillery could reopen its doors and the stills could sing forever more. A new era for Ardbeg had begun. Cask 17/1989 is one of the first to be filled when the Ardbeg stills began to sing once more.

Celebrating Ardbeg’s 1989 revival, The Rollercoaster’s second whisky is one of the Distillery’s final casks left from that year. Distilled on 6th December, just weeks after production restarted with malt now supplied by Port Ellen maltings. Its spirit was much more lightly peated than had formerly been traditional for Ardbeg or is today.

Laid down in bourbon barrels and transferred into a refill bourbon cask to enhance its gently peated character.

The Rollercoaster is the embodiment of this story. A unique piece of history with the last cask of 1981, together in arms with one of the first casks of 1989. A symbol of the Distillery's triumphant resurrection, time capsules of a bygone era.