The early days of distilling: If the stories are to be believed (and why not?), the inhabitants of Islay had been enjoying the effects of 'strong wines and aquavitae' for years before the Ardbeg distillery was established. Even attempts to suppress the unruly islanders with a heavy malt tax could not deter illicit distillers and smugglers operating around Ardbeg's rocky cove. This was perhaps an inevitable consequence for a remote island, so difficult for the excisemen to reach, yet blessed with an abundance of natural resources needed for producing whisky - fertile soil, peat bogs and unlimited supplies of soft peaty water. Somehow, against a backdrop of raiding Norsemen, inter-island clan battles and English taxation, Ardbeg emerged as "unquestionably the greatest distillery on earth."