Smoky Ardbeg Eureka! Single Malt is a Hidden Gem for Committee Members Only

• Ardbeg Eureka! celebrates 25 years of the Ardbeg Committee.
• Exclusive release for Committee members, available online from March 11, 2025.
• Flavour notes include dark chocolate, cinnamon, briny seaweed, and smoke.
• Created through Operation Smokescreen, incorporating global Committee member feedback.
• Limited stock available at select Ardbeg embassies across Australia.

Dark chocolate, cinnamon, briny seaweed, and smoke, the new Ardbeg Eureka! release is a whisky tribute to 25 years of the 180,000-strong members that make up the Ardbeg Committee. It’s being released from March 11 2025 and is available online exclusively to Committee members via the Australian Ardbeg Committee website for AUD$145.

Those who want to try the dram can also head on-premises, with limited stock available at these Ardbeg embassies: Foxtrot Unicorn – Perth, Stitch Bar – Sydney, Whisky & Alement – Melbourne, and Savile Row – Brisbane.

“With its medley of flavours, from cherries and red apples to briny seaweed and bonfires, topped with cinnamon and raisin fudge, Ardbeg Eureka! is packed with a variety of flavours, inspired by our eclectic group of Committee members’ tastes, who are united by their love of Ardbeg’s smoky and fruity balance. There was a real eureka moment when, after countless experiments, Dr Bill and I landed upon the perfect recipe,” said Master Blender Gillian Macdonald on the release.

The story goes that with financial troubles threatening its existence, a few of the brand’s top enthusiasts saved the company from the brink of extinction and formed a committee to ensure that it would never happen again. Now, 25 years later, this new whisky celebrates what they consider the Ultimate Islay Single Malt.

To create the ultimate member’s dram, the brand’s whisky creators invited a select group to a hidden corner of the distillery to take part in an experiment named Operation Smokescreen. One hundred members from 15 different countries – a cross-section of Ardbeg’s diverse, global fanbase – tasted and discussed five extreme (and secret) examples of Ardbeg. From there, Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s Director of Whisky Creation, and Master Blender Gillian Macdonald took these notes back to the distillery and created a bottling representing the Committee’s preferences.

Eventually, after months of deliberation, they combined a whisky aged in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks with roasted malt spirit matured in bourbon casks. The result is Ardbeg Eureka! With notes of salted crispy seaweed, sweet cinnamon jostle with dark chocolate-coated raisins, and burning embers.

“The Committee have been the lifeblood of Ardbeg for a quarter of a century – you won’t find a more passionate bunch of smoky malt lovers anywhere else,” said Committee Chair and Ardbeg Distillery Visitor Centre Manager Jackie Thomson. “Ardbeg Eureka! is an exuberant reward for our members’ dedication. Slàinte mhath to 25 years of the Ardbeg Committee!”

If you want to get your hands on a bottle of this special sauce, Ardbeg Eureka! is being released from March 11 2025 and is available online exclusively to Committee members via the Australian Ardbeg Committee website.