Aberfeldy 12 Year
Aberfeldy was founded in 1896 by the famed John Dewar & Sons on the eastern edge of the town bearing the name, almost directly in the center of Scotland. The distillery currently has two wash stills and two spirit stills. Apart from the distillery shutting down during both world wars due to grain shortages, it has otherwise operated nearly continously. Though ownership eventually passed to the spirits conglomerate now known as Diageo in 1997, Aberfeldy remains the largest malt whisky component of Dewar’s Blended whiskies. The Aberfeldy 12 Year debuted in 1999, not long after the Diageo acquisition, and remains the foundational age statement of the core portfolio, along with a 15 Year and 18 Year. Along with the blended and age statement offerings, Aberfeldy malts are also featured in independent bottler releases.
Lagg Kilmory Edition
Lagg distillery opened in 2019 on the Isle of Arran, at the site of a former distillery near the village of Lagg that had closed in 1837. Located on the southern tip of the Isle due east of Campbeltown, Lagg is owned by Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd, the same company that owns Lochranza Distillery, situated on the northern tip. The distillery’s purpose was to produce more peated whisky using peat from Aberdeenshire, as the Arran brand is generally unpeated. The first whiskies were released in 2022 and reached the US market in 2024. The Lagg Kilmory Edition is one of these first two releases, matured in ex-bourbon casks.
Ardbeg Spectacular
The Ardbeg Committee was founded in 2000, born from a fan club of sorts started in 19999. Ardbeg was officially founded in 1815, though it had been producing whisky there for over almost twenty years there previously. It shuttered in the early 1990s and was purchased by Glenmorangie in 1997 and reopened, with the Ardbeg Committee soon following to foster love of the brand and make sure the distillery never closed again. While the Committee offers communications and solidarity for the affecionados, there has also been yearly whisky releases under the Committee banner. The 2024 Committee offering is the Ardbeg Spectacular, which was matured in a blend of ex-bourbon and ex-port casks. This is different than past releases that made use of cask finishing. The circus connection is unknown.