Ardbeg Smokiverse is a boundary-pushing experiment born from high gravity mashing – a first for the distillery, and a bold leap into the unknown for Ardbeg Day 2025.
As the Ardbeg Committee celebrates its 25th anniversary, the distillery’s mash tun has been pushed to galactic extremes. The team created a dense, flavour-rich wort with an astronomical original gravity by dialling down the water and ramping up the grain in the mash. The result? A fruitier, sweeter, and astonishingly intense Ardbeg – like someone turned the flavour dial to eleven and hurled it into orbit.
The high gravity approach magnifies fruity acetate esters during fermentation, producing a richer style of new make spirit that carries through to the final whisky. Smokiverse was then matured in classic bourbon casks to let the amplified spirit shine, layering bold fruitiness with sweet smoke, toasted grains, and that signature Ardbeg earthiness.
This is Ardbeg at its most experimental – a dram with monumental density, a swirling vortex of sweetness and smoke, and a fitting tribute to 25 years of Committee-fuelled madness.
Strap in. The Smokiverse awaits.
An explosion of fruity, estery notes, reminiscent of smoked bubblegum, fuse with whiffs of ripening barley and toasted sourdough bread. A splash of water reveals dense, sweet, and aromatic peat smoke, accompanied by gently smoked tropical fruits.
A rich, creamy mouthfeel drifts into sharp, sooty and spicy notes of creosote, aniseed, and clove. Tempered by the distinct sweetness of muscovado sugar, robust woody notes orbit rich charcoal.
Finally, in an almost infinite finish, earthy peat moss fuses with sizzling bonfire embers.
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Ardbeg, this experiment is a winner for me, really impressed with this expression, like a more subtle version of Bizarrebq more nuanced, the flavors slowly revealing themselves. I would definitely buy another bottle. The only downside is how Ardbeg work out the pricing. This is about 93 quid,worth the money compared to Ardbeg Ardcore which for me is ridiculously expensive.
