Ardbeg Smokiverse Ardbeg Day 2025 Limited Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Smokiverse was the centrepiece of the celebrations at last year’s Ardbeg Day. Created using high gravity mashing, it's a first for the distillery. Danny Brandon at Whiskyadvocate.com explains, "While high-gravity mashing sounds like something that might require assistance from NASA, it’s actually fairly straightforward. It involves scaling back the amount of water added to the mash tun, to create a more concentrated and flavorful wort prior to fermentation. The “gravity” part merely refers to the overall density of the wort, which contains a higher intensity of certain flavor-bearing esters. It’s a technique used by scotch distilleries including Inchdairnie and Teaninich... Distillers that use high-gravity mashing often credit it for bringing added complexity to their whisky. Ardbeg found that, after the heavy-gravity wort for this whisky had been fermented and distilled, the spirit was generally fruitier than usual, with some interesting tropical notes."

After aging in bourbon barrels, the final whisky is said to retain those ripe tropical fruit flavours alongside bubble gum, toasted sourdough bread, industrial creosote smoke, muscovado sugar and bonfire embers. “By ramping up the density of the wort, we’ve drawn in fruitier, sweeter flavours,” said Ardbeg’s director of distilling, Dr Bill Lumsden, in a statement. Smokiverse is bottled at 48.3% ABV, a bit higher than the distillery’s usual 46% and comes non chill filtered.