ARDBEG 2000 Aged 25 Years ARTIST #15 Something in the Water

Created in 2011, ARTIST by La Maison du Whisky is LMDW’s flagship series dedicated to remarkable single casks selected for their expressive, terroir-driven character, paired with contemporary artworks chosen to mirror or contrast the whisky’s identity. Over the years, ARTIST has evolved into a true gallery in bottle form: an annual expression of style, ageing, culture and aesthetics.

ARTIST #15, the fifteenth edition of this emblematic range and released under the Itinéraires catalogue, is divided into two thematic chapters: Something in the Water, inspired by the magic of Islay and paying tribute to the island’s historic distilleries; and The Dark Side of the Moon, which explores the world of sherry cask maturation from Oloroso to Pedro Ximénez.

Selected for the Something in the Water chapter of ARTIST #15, this 25 year old Ardbeg offers an extraordinary reading of Islay’s elemental identity. Distilled in 2000, it captures the tension between raw, ocean-born peat and the quiet maturity that only decades of ageing can bring. The result is a whisky where smoke becomes sculpted, saline notes deepen into mineral nuance, and Ardbeg’s unmistakable wildness is rendered with rare finesse.

Founded in 1815 by John MacDougall, Ardbeg has long produced some of Scotland’s most powerfully peated single malts. Its characteristic intensity originally stemmed from limited ventilation in its malt kilns, trapping dense peat smoke during drying. After closing in 1981, the distillery reopened in 1989 and underwent a full renaissance in 1997 under the Glenmorangie Company, followed by further expansion under LVMH after 2004. Today, Ardbeg stands as one of Islay’s most celebrated distilleries, dedicating nearly all production to single malt.

This rare 25 year old single cask distils the essence of Something In the Water: the interplay of sea spray and smoke, precision and wildness, age and purity. A whisky of deep poise, shaped by a quarter-century of patience and the relentless character of Islay itself.