A rare cask of single malt whisky has been sold by Ardbeg, Scottish distillery for a record-breaking £16m.

An unnamed female collector based in Asia, bought “Cask No. 3” from Ardbeg through a private sale.

Whisky experts haven’t seen a sale like this before and have said that the sale had surpassed all auction records for a cask of single malt.

You may have seen in our previous whisky news email last month, that a cask of The Macallan 1988 whisky sold at auction for £1m, after being purchased 34 years ago for just £5,000.

Read more here: https://elitewineandwhisky.com/forgotten-whisky-cask-sets-1m-auction-record/

The Ardbeg spirit, was distilled in 1975 and initially laid down to age in two separate casks before being transferred to a single sherry butt in 2014. The cask contains sufficient spirit to fill 440 70cl bottles, which each value to £36,000.

Ardbeg said that over the next five years the butt would be bottled gradually for its new owner. Every 12 months, she will receive 88 bottles.

Islay-based Ardbeg have said it’s the oldest cask ever to be released by the islay-based distillery, which closed twice in the 1980s and 1990s before being bought by the Glenmorangie Company in 1997. 

Ardbeg has vowed to donate £1m from the proceeds of the sale to local community causes over the next five years.

The tasting notes of the spirit state: “Brazil nuts in toffee fill the nose, followed by linseed oil, a suggestion of flowering blackcurrants, sweet, aromatic peat smoke and a hint of tobacco”. 

Ardbeg chief executive 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.”

Andrew Shirley, editor of the Knight Frank Wealth Report, said that the cask sale had “set a very interesting new benchmark”. 

Whisky expert Charles MacLean added: “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.”

Islay (pronounced ‘eye-luh’) considered by many as ‘whisky island’, just 25 miles long 15 miles wide the majority of its population are involved in whisky production. Islay is known for its highly concentrated number of distilleries on one Hebridean island – nine working distilleries in total! Get in touch today to discover which casks we have available from this world-renowned whisky location.