Our whisky is notable for its high portion of fully peated single malt. Traditionally, barley is steeped in water and laid out on malting floors to allow the grains to germinate using controlled temperatures. Peat fires are then used to infuse the green malt with sweet smokiness whilst drying in the kiln. The degree of smokiness of the malt whisky depends on how long the malt was dried over the peat fire. Once dried the malt can be kept for several weeks.

In recent years it has become fashionable to use peated malt. However, The Ardmore is one of the few single malt distilleries that has consistently used it since the early years.

Inevitably the 1823 Excise Act altered the shape of the new spirits industry. Only around 60 Scottish distilleries had been operating openly (although it is believed that many more operating illegally). But as there was no longer any need for the drink to be smuggled across the land under the cover of darkness or threat of discovery, good quality whisky became far more readily available.

Teacher saw the changes in the law which allowed whisky to be distilled legally as an opportunity. But it was his absolute self-belief that led to the laying down of what was to become one of the largest whisky brands in the world.

In 1830 William Teacher obtained a license to sell whisky from a grocer’s shop in the Anderson district of Glasgow. The shop was owned by the mother of his girlfriend, Agnes MacDonald. William married Agnes in 1832 and went on to open the first ‘dram shop’ in Piccadilly Street where customers could stop by and enjoy a glass of fine whisky. In 1836 - when opening his second shop - William secured a license to sell bottled whisky. With a booming population in Glasgow (doubling since the turn of the century), it wasn’t long before Teachers had a chain of nearly 20 dram shops where customers could sit and enjoy their drams and also purchase a bottle to take home.