Wolfgang visited Islay twice, once in the new year at Hogmanay, and then in August of 2003, he had a relaxing time here partly because my car was broken and he had to walk or bus wherever he was going. Wolfgang lives in Köln.

He borrowed my camera and so I have a complete set of his pictures, I have added some to this page with some commentary of my own.

The first sight you get of Ardbeg distillery as you walk along the road is across a ragwort infested field, not inspiring.

The distillery itself has been managed by the Glenmorangie group some some years now, they have invested firstly (obviously) in the quality of the spirit, but also in the quality of the buildings. The sea aspect of the warehouse has massive lettering that is easily visible from the ferry and indeed, is the first visible distillery when you travel to Port Ellen on the ferry.

The surroundings of the distillery are so nice it is worth walking around a bit, this shot is from the the rocks along from the tine pier that is owned by the distillery. A great place for a wedding reception I am told.

Wolfgang has a great eye for a photograph and here I have pasted two such together so you can see much of the Ardbeg complex. In the middle the old kiln has been converted into the a visitor centre, cafe and museum. To the left you can see the distillery itself where the stills are kept. To the right is distillery housing and the darker building is one of the bonded warehouses. In the foreground are the barrels waiting for their load of precious nectar and their long wait to maturity.

Within the distillery much attention is paid to detail,a tiny display of the whisky art is laid out with tools and photographs of whisky times gone bye.

The machinery even maintains its corporate image with the grist mill pained in what can only be described as the “cowpat green” of the company’s colours.

Despite the eccentric choice of colour, the tour itself is very good and has been dealt with elsewhere on this site, but it is still worth putting in a couple more of Wolfgang’s great pictures.

Within the mash tun, the machinery stirs the mixture of roasted, malted barley as the heat extracts the precious maltose from the grain. It is this that the yeast will work on to produce the alcohol. The barley has been roasted over slow peat fires to give a very high phenol content that will give the final spirit its characteristic Islay peaty smell and flavour. Hang on I need to run down to the shop and get a bottle -this is thirsty work.

On the right, the spirit still pours out a stream of the distilled spirit that will soon be in the barrels, waiting its turn to become the great Ardbeg.

Finally the cask, great whisky is never put in new casks, used casks from all over the world end up on Islay at the various distilleries, Ardbeg uses Jack Daniel’s casks and these add the colour, tannins and vanilla that makes the raw and fiery spirit into the final smooth and peaty Ardbeg.

And as the sun sets over the Sound of Jura thanks to Wolfgang for these pictures.