By Someone Who’s Seen a Few Things (and Drunk Even More)
Let’s be honest: Ardbeg 10 isn’t the first name that comes to mind when you think of summer whisky. This is not a spirit made for dainty palates or poolside spritzers. It’s not some perfumed Highland flirtation or a mild-mannered bourbon hiding behind syrup and citrus. No. Ardbeg 10 is a beast from Islay, soaked in sea spray, raised by fire, and unapologetically proud of its scars.
And yet—on a hot, sweaty summer evening, when the air is thick and the mind drifts to smoke, salt, and charred everything—there’s something magnetic about that peaty punch, that blast of campfire and brine, that dark, uncompromising character. It feels rebellious to make cocktails with it. Which is exactly why you should.
Let’s talk about how to bend Ardbeg 10 into the heat of summer without breaking its wild, beautiful spirit.
The Monster from Islay
Let’s start at the source.
Ardbeg 10-Year-Old is a whisky that doesn’t ask for your approval. It doesn’t flirt or coax. It arrives with smoke in its teeth and salt on its breath, an Islay single malt that barrels through your palate like a freight train loaded with driftwood and tar. You either love it, or you don’t. There’s no middle ground, no compromise.
Distilled on the rugged southern coast of Islay, Ardbeg is peated to the max—about 55 ppm (phenol parts per million), one of the highest among Scotch whiskies. But here’s the kicker: it’s not just smoke. Beneath that wildfire lies an intricate world of lemon peel, black pepper, licorice root, espresso, and the strange beauty of smoked banana. It’s primal, it’s poetic—and, oddly enough, it makes a hell of a cocktail base.
Why Use Ardbeg in Summer Cocktails?
You might say, “But isn’t this sacrilege? Mixing a fine single malt with fruit juice and ice?”
Sure. To the purists—let them gnash their teeth and clutch their Glencairns. But whisky wasn’t always a sacred cow. It was a drink of the people—gritty, adaptive, unpretentious. If Ardbeg 10 could talk, it wouldn’t ask for reverence. It would ask for fire. For life. For a glass filled high and a night that ends too late.
And in summer, when you’re grilling mackerel on the beach, standing ankle-deep in seawater, or just sweating through your shirt on a Brooklyn rooftop, you want a drink that holds its own. Ardbeg 10, with its smoke and salt, is a natural companion to summer’s chaos.
The Cocktails: Smoke with a Twist
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill whisky sours or sugary highballs. These are cocktails with backbone, built around Ardbeg’s savage poetry.
1. The Islay Paloma
Ardbeg meets grapefruit and a hit of salt—like a bonfire on the Baja coast.
- 1.5 oz Ardbeg 10
- 2 oz fresh pink grapefruit juice
- 0.5 oz agave syrup
- Pinch of sea salt
- Top with soda water
- Garnish: Charred grapefruit wheel
Build over ice in a highball glass, stir gently, sip slowly. The peat dances with the grapefruit like smoke curling through citrus groves.
2. Smoky Ginger Smash
For when the grill’s still hot and the ice is melting too fast.
- 2 oz Ardbeg 10
- 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
- 0.5 oz honey syrup (1:1 honey and hot water)
- 4 slices fresh ginger, muddled
- Mint for garnish
Shake hard, double strain into rocks glass over crushed ice. It’s spicy, smoky, and refreshing—like a hot slap of summer on the face.
3. The Charred Boulevardier
Because sometimes you wear black in August and don’t care who’s judging.
- 1 oz Ardbeg 10
- 1 oz sweet vermouth
- 1 oz Campari
- Orange peel, flamed if you’re feeling fancy
Stir with ice, strain into a chilled coupe. It’s bold, bitter, brooding—and absolutely stunning as the sun goes down.
4. Ardbeg Cold Brew Flip
Dessert and danger, shaken together.
- 1.5 oz Ardbeg 10
- 1 oz cold brew concentrate
- 0.75 oz coffee liqueur (like Mr Black)
- 1 whole egg
- Dash of chocolate bitters
Dry shake (no ice) first, then add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupe. Garnish with cocoa dust or a few coffee beans. Sip this after dinner when the fire pit’s still glowing.
Pair It, Don’t Tame It
You don’t tame Ardbeg—you dance with it. So build your summer meals to match.
Think charred meats, grilled shellfish, burnt citrus, smoked eggplant, salty cheeses, dark chocolate. It doesn’t need subtlety. It needs bold companions that know how to hold a conversation.
Drink it with oysters and lemon. With lamb skewers rubbed in cumin and pepper. With burnt marshmallows and cinnamon. Lean into the chaos.
The Last Word
Ardbeg 10 isn’t the easy choice. It’s the right one—if you’ve lived a little, if you don’t mind breaking a few rules, if you know that sometimes the best moments come from mixing high art with low expectations.
Don’t save it for winter. Don’t save it for purists. Crack it open in July, build something wild, and raise your glass to the sun.
Because whisky—real whisky—isn’t about reverence. It’s about joy. And joy, like smoke, belongs in every season.
Cheers.
Or as they say on Islay, Slàinte mhath.
