Why a Scotch Whisky Brand Created a Sci-Fi Comic

You probably think you know how Scotch whiskies do their marketing. There’s a vibe. High-backed chairs, muted greens and browns, a crackling open fire. Men. It’s certainly not the first product you’d expect to market itself by publishing its own graphic novel. But Ardbeg is a Scotch that likes to surprise. 

As senior brand manager Anna Tripodi says, this goes back to how the dram tastes. “We’re proud of the way that our boldly smoky whiskies provoke strong reactions (whether love or hate!).” And that translates into its marketing. “We wanted to explore another creative realm which has similarly passionate fans – and the world of graphic novels offered not only a rich creative playground, but also an opportunity to speak to people with similar passions and interests to our community of ‘Ardbeggians’.”

Collaborating with hybrid creative agency / publishing company TCO London, who also publish magazine titles including ‘Little White Lies’ and ‘Sandwich’, Anna and her team worked up a pitch drawing from old EC comics magazines like ‘Creepy’, ‘Weird Science’, and ‘Shock SuspenStories’. “I love that stuff. Particularly Bernard Krigstein’s shorts,” says Ronald Wimberly, lead artist and creative director of what would become the ‘Planet Ardbeg’ comic. “So I considered the brand, its story, the nature of time. The thought that ‘whisky is a time machine’ leapt out to me.” 

Ardbeg knew that if they wanted to speak to the graphic novel subculture, they would need to approach the project in a deeply credible way. “We didn’t want to simply produce some advertising in the comic style,” Anna says. “We really wanted to create something authentic and valuable as a piece of art in its own right.” That’s why they took the time to identify three artists, Ronald Wimberly, Emma Rîos, and Sanford Greene, who she says “are doing cutting-edge work within the indie comics space and who are extremely well respected in their field.” They’d work with them to craft a graphic novel rooted in and inspired by Ardbeg whiskies.

Emma Rîos, supporting artist on ‘Planet Ardbeg’, isn’t sure where the kernel of the idea for the project began, but jokingly ventures: “I think it was the desert.”

Makes sense. Most of the graphic novel takes place in a landscape far from the peaty hills and moors of Islay, the Scottish island where Ardbeg is distilled. Parts of it look as parched as Mad Max or Dune.

The story is entirely rooted in Ardbeg’s unique product, brand, and identity. The brand brought Ronald to Islay to visit the distillery, meet the people behind the product, and literally sink his feet into the peat bogs. “We made sure that all three artists had the chance to really get to know the brand, our whiskies, and in particular the expressions on whose flavours and histories each of them based their story,” says Anna.  “From our side, the most important thing was making sure we had set the artists up with a deep enough understanding of the Ardbeg brand, our whiskies, and their stories for them to be able to take those inspirations and run with them.”

“We’re thrilled with the result: an anthology graphic novel that really captures the essence of Ardbeg, from its spiritual home of Islay, to the smokiness that characterises the liquid, to the quirky sense of wit and humour that distinguishes the brand.”

For Ronald, he was keen to keep an open mind about what the story might be. “For my part I let the brand identity produce the story as opposed to feeding the identity into a story I’d produced before, separately,” he says. Emma, on the other hand, says she focused her approach on things like how to show the taste and texture of the whisky through the drawings.

The distinctive look of the novel, including something of the post-apocalyptic and dashes of dark fantasy - and maybe even Manga – is largely down to the artist selection phase, says Anna. “We chose Ronald, Emma, and Sanford to bring our brand to life with their distinctive and unique visual styles, and we wanted to make sure we afforded them creative licence to do so authentically and in their own way.”

Beyond those choices. It wasn’t rocket science. “The biggest decisions were Ardbeg’s: who they invited to collaborate,” says Ronald. “It’s not my first rodeo; writing and drawing is pretty straightforward. It was just a matter of solving for the client’s needs.” Emma distilled the brief for her down to a clear task: “To create a story that could become a metaphor for the Ardbeg Ten Years Old.”

The finished book is a 40-page sci-fi anthology taking us on a tour of Planet Ardbeg – a land of giant botanicals and not-so-wee beasties. A copper city comes under attack from a monstrous creature and a mystical desert carries echoes of a distant past. Three stories follow the travels of the Quantum Distiller, who journeys across time and space gathering ingredients and inspiration to concoct the ultimate dram. 

Its pages are thick with detail to pore over. “I really love all the subtle Easter eggs and references to Islay that Ron has woven throughout his stories,” says Anna. “The rich sunset-hued colour palette of Sanford’s story; and the breath-taking ‘City of Desires’ spread in Emma’s story.”

In between the pages of stories are pastiche pages of advertising, designed by TCO, featuring a health warning about high smoke levels across the region, a diner advertising items such as ‘Islaygator Steak’ and an ad something called a ‘Pseudo Egg’ – details that Ronald took great pleasure in.

The general feel of Planet Ardbeg is so not the Scotch whisky vibe. But there is a strong feel to it, as Emma notes, “Through time you can eventually forget the details of a story, but when it clicks, the atmosphere and the ideas last for a long time. I think we managed to do that here.”

The novel is available to buy at the Ardbeg Distillery Visitor Centre and selected comic book shops, as well as online in certain markets. A digital version is also available exclusively for the 160,000 worldwide members of the Ardbeg Committee – a fervent community of smoke-minded individuals who can’t get enough of this unexpected whisky.

Ronald recently had the chance to show off Planet Ardbeg at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. “People were excited to see unexpected work,” he says. “Also it turns out there are a lot of whisky drinkers in comics. Maybe it helps pass the time at the drawing board.”

Meanwhile Ardbeg has received a really positive reaction from all quarters. “We’ve especially enjoyed seeing some of the comments on Instagram posts from our artists,” says Anna, “including from people with no prior knowledge of Ardbeg who saw the Planet Ardbeg graphic novel in a store, bought it, and loved it!

“We’re really excited to see how Planet Ardbeg continues to grow as a platform, as our local marketing teams around the world activate it via digital content, local partnerships, and events which immerse the attendees in the world of the graphic novel. It’s such a rich world that’s been built, that this is really just the beginning!”