three gold, and two silver medals between 2006 and 2012. Ardbeg Galileo won the World's Best Single Malt Whisky in the 2013 World Whiskies Awards. Production The distillery output is quite big for a distillery with only two pot stills. The wash still has a capacity of about 18,000 litres and the spirit still of about 17,000 litres. This produces approximately 10,000 barrels (1.4 million liters) of spirit per year. The distillery employs about sixty people and also provides them with dwelling on premises. Since 2018, a new still house is under construction which will double Ardbeg's distilling capacity. In 2011, 20 vials of Ardbeg spirit and wood particles were sent to the International Space Station to investigate their interaction. They returned on 12 September 2014.<ref>Ardbeg 'space whisky' back on Earth after flavour experiment BBC', 12 September 2014.</ref> In 2022, Ardbeg released the 13-year-old limited edition called "Fermutation," which has seen the longest fermentation in Ardbeg's history. Ardbeg Distillery was forced to open washback lids which started a three-week-long fermentation. Products The Whiskies of Ardbeg are usually heavily peated Malts. Compared to other Islay Malts Ardbeg doesn't focus on the sea and salt tastes. They rather focus on aromas of spices, malt or sweet tones like vanilla and chocolate. The core range of Ardbeg consists of the Ardbeg TEN, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan. The TEN is named after its age. Uigeadail was named after Loch Uigeadail, a lake which is a source of water for the distillery. The Corryvreckan bottle takes its name from a famous sea vortex between the Isle of Jura and the Isle of Scarba. Recently the Ardbeg distillery brought out quite a number of special releases with no age statement (Supernova, Ardbog, Alligator). Cultural references Ardbeg inspired the Finnish composer of contemporary music, Osmo Tapio Räihälä, to write the symphonic poem Ardbeg—The Ultimate Piece For Orchestra'' (2003); it was recorded by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra on 28 April 2011. In Rei Hiroe's manga series Black Lagoon, Ardbeg is the favorite whisky of the character Dutch. See also List of whisky distilleries in Scotland List of historic whisky distilleries References Notes Bibliography External links Ardbeg official website Distilleries in Scotland Scottish malt whisky Whisky distilleries in Islay 1815 establishments in Scotland LVMH brands