Ardbeg 17 Year Old Scotch Whisky Committee Exclusive
Ardbeg 17 Year Old Scotch Whisky Committee Exclusive is a 40% ABV (80 proof), 750mL Islay single malt aged 17 years — the limited-edition revival of the beloved Ardbeg 17 first released in 1997 and discontinued in 2004, recreated note by note and released exclusively for the Ardbeg Committee. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
- ABV: 40% (80 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Age: 17 years
- Style: Islay single malt Scotch whisky — a combination of peated and unpeated stock, chill-filtered in the manner of the original bottling
- Release: Committee Exclusive limited edition, September 2024 — a revival of the 1997 original, discontinued in 2004
- Origin: Ardbeg Distillery, Islay, Scotland
The Legend Returns
When Ardbeg reopened in 1997, saved from extinction by The Glenmorangie Company, the 17 Years Old was one of the first whiskies out of the door — a gentler, elegant Ardbeg that became a legend before it was discontinued in 2004. Committee members lobbied for its return for twenty years. Master blender Gillian Macdonald and the Whisky Creation team retraced the original profile note by note, even breaking Ardbeg's modern rules to do it faithfully: where today's Ardbegs are bottled at 46% or higher and never chill-filtered, the revived 17 sits at 40% ABV and is chill-filtered, just as the original was. Shop the Ardbeg collection and more Scotch whisky at Del Mesa.
Tasting Notes
Ardbeg's own notes call it fresh and clean, with hints of pine resin, aniseed, sea spray and lavender soap — very gentle, very restrained, and rather elegant for an Ardbeg. With water, a distinctive flinty minerality emerges, with subtle sweet peat smoke, malted barley and toasting bread. The palate is sumptuously creamy — aniseed toffee, café latte and cocoa over delicate smoke — the distillery's trademark peat in its most balmy, medicinal and minerally register.
How to Enjoy
Neat or with a few drops of water, which Ardbeg itself recommends for opening the minerality and malt. This is the Ardbeg for drinkers who find the core range's full-throttle peat too much — and for collectors, the one they waited two decades for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is this Ardbeg only 40% ABV? To honour the original. The 1997 Ardbeg 17 was bottled at 40% ABV and chill-filtered, so the revival deliberately follows suit — a deliberate exception to Ardbeg's usual 46%-plus, non-chill-filtered practice.
What is the Ardbeg Committee? Ardbeg's worldwide fan community. This 17 Year Old revival was released as a limited edition exclusively for Committee members, through Ardbeg's site, the distillery visitor centre and Ardbeg Embassies.
Is it heavily peated like other Ardbegs? No — it is famously the gentle Ardbeg: a combination of peated and unpeated stock giving delicate smoke, pine resin, sea spray and minerality rather than the core range's intense peat blast.
What is the ABV and size? 40% ABV (80 proof), 750mL.
Twenty years discontinued, faithfully rebuilt note by note — pick up the Ardbeg 17 Committee Exclusive online through Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.