Prince Charles visits The Ardbeg Distillery

The Ardbeg Distillery has had a special visitor in the form of Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, who visited the Islay distillery as part of his tour of Scotland.

Distillery Manager, Michael Heads, gave the Duke a tour of the distillery which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. Prince Charles was also shown the ‘Artbeg’ exhibition and heard about the Distillery’s plans to support the South Islay community with The Kildalton Project through its partnership with His Royal Highness’s charity, The North Highland Initiative.

Marc Hoellinger, President and Chief Executive of The Glenmorangie Company accompanied The Prince on his visit and presented him with a bottle of Ardbeg Kildalton Whisky.

Following the visit, Mr Hoellinger commented, “This is a very exciting time for Ardbeg. Since the renaissance of the Distillery in 1997 Ardbeg has acquired a hugely passionate following amongst malt whisky aficionados across the world. This success and the hard work of all involved in Ardbeg means that today there are 38 full and part-time posts at the Distillery, making a valuable contribution to the community and economy of South Islay.”

He concluded, “The visit of His Royal Highness to Ardbeg gives great encouragement to the staff of the Distillery, their families and the wider Islay community.”

Earlier in the week, The Prince visited The Clutha Bar in Glasgow where a police helicopter crashed through a roof in November 2013. Prince Charles signed a ukelele which will be auctioned off for the Clutha trust, the charity which has been set up for those affected by the crash.