Ardbeg Ardcore is a limited-edition Islay single malt Scotch built on roasted black malt barley charred to the edge of burnt, a first for the distillery. Bottled at 92 proof for Ardbeg Day 2022, it trades the house’s usual maritime brine for something darker: charcoal and sweet soot on the nose, aniseed and dark chocolate through the palate, and an ashen, peppery finish that hangs on. The punk-rock packaging is a wink; the whisky underneath is serious peated malt, and this one-time release is now retired to the archive, never to be repeated. Pour it for the peat obsessive who is convinced they have tried everything.