In 1794, illegal whiskey distillers built an illegal distillery and the legal distillery opened in 1815. Ardbeg was closed for renovations between 1981 and 1989. The malting floor was no longer used at that time and Ardbeg now obtains the malt from neighbor Port Ellen. This malt is still the most peat-containing on the island. The Ardbeg closed again in 1996, but was opened in 1997 by the current owner under the leadership of then manager Stuart Thomson, who had already made his mark at Glenmorangie as a mash man. The Ardbeg stillhouse contains one wash still and one spirit still, which are heated with steam. The stills are almost the same size, at other distilleries the spirit stills are usually smaller than the wash stills and the Ardbeg stillman must first distill a first distillate twice in order to completely fill the spirit. The maturation of Ardbeg's new spirit takes place in new and refill bourbon barrels. The water for brewing comes via a pipeline from a lake called Loch Uigeadail. The new owner will market Ardbeg's production exclusively as non-chill-filtered single malt.