Ardbeg Smokiverse - limited-edition release for Ardbeg Day

Islay-based Ardbeg Distillery has unveiled Ardbeg Smokiverse - its new limited-edition release to mark Ardbeg Day 2025, which takes place on Saturday 31st May as the finale to Feis Ile (Islay’s globally-renowned ten-day Festival of Music and Malt).

Ardbeg Day has been an annual celebration of ‘the Beast of Islay’ (pronounced ‘eye-lah’) since 2012, and this year will take place on the last Saturday of Fèis Ìle.

Taking whisky lovers on a voyage into new, undiscovered realms of flavour for Ardbeg Day 2025, Ardbeg Smokiverse experimental malt has been crafted with High Gravity Mashing (a genuine distilling term!), with a new frontier of flavour created. Using a series of bold, unconventional distilling techniques, Ardbeg’s Whisky Creation Team, led by Scotch whisky superstar Dr Bill Lumsden MBE, has created an extraordinary new dimension of galactic flavour unlike anything before. 

A recent tasting at Hawksmoor

The journey to Smokiverse began years ago when Ardbeg’s Whisky Creation Team started pushing the boundaries of traditional mashing (the process of converting malted barley into fermentable sugars). By using less water in the mash tun, the team crafted a "high-gravity" (denser) mash that intensified flavours to a dramatic, otherworldly effect.  

Matured in bourbon casks, the end result is this limited-edition Smokiverse, which reveals deep layers of muscovado sugar, ripe barley, and toasted sourdough, before erupting in waves of lush tropical fruits and sweet, smoky peat. It's Ardbeg—but not as you know it.

Dr Bill Lumsden MBE, Ardbeg's Director of Whisky Creation, says:

“The first whisky we have ever made with a high-gravity mash, Ardbeg Smokiverse takes our single malt’s classic peaty character to a new frontier of flavour. By ramping up the density of our wort to new heights, we’ve drawn in fruitier, sweeter flavours from the deepest corners of the mash tun. Upon first sip, you can expect a vibrant burst of fruity, ester notes, rather like smoked bubblegum, along with aromas of barley. Then peaty notes collide with juicy, tropical fruits, before sinking into a rich depth of muscovado sugar.”

“We’re thrilled to share this whisky with smoky malt lovers everywhere and send their tastebuds into overdrive with the release of this extraordinary new expression.”

The release of Ardbeg Smokiverse also marks the 25th anniversary of the Ardbeg Committee; the global community of enthusiastic smoke-minded Ardbeggians who this year are preparing to don their moon boots and space suits on Saturday, 31st May as they enter the Smokiverse, both on Islay and at celebrations across the world.

Inspired by the high-gravity mash, the Distillery on Islay will bring to life a space-inspired universe on Ardbeg Day. Committee Members and their smoky-malt-loving friends can experience the delights of high gravity in the Smokiverse: a place filled with cosmic games, space-themed cocktails, whisky tastings and smoky bites.

Jackie Thomson, Visitor Centre Manager at Ardbeg Distillery and Ardbeg Committee Chair, says:

“We’re inviting whisky fans from all corners of the world to join us – both at the Distillery, the beating heart of the Smokiverse, and beyond – to celebrate Ardbeg Day. We’re thrilled to share this whisky with smoky-malt lovers everywhere and send their tastebuds into overdrive with the release of this extraordinary new expression.”

This Ardbeg Day, take a sip of the Smokiverse and plunge your palate into a fruit, sweet and utterly absorbing Ardbeg.