| Region of production: | Islay |
| Distillery Location: | Port Ellen, Argyll and Bute |
| Year Established: | 1815 |
Top Spirits Produced
- Core Range:
- 10, 25 Years Old
- Quarter Cask, Select, Triple Wood, Lore
- Travel (Duty Free) Range: Four Oak, PX Cask, The 1815 Legacy Edition
- Limited Release: Cairdeas 15 Years Old, released annually for the Friends of Laphroaig.
- Rare: 25, 27 Years Old
Average Total Production
- 3.3 million liters neutral spirit before aging
Summary
Laphroaig was founded in 1815 by brothers Donald and Alexander Johnston, cattle farmers whose whisky, made from the barley remaining after feeding their cattle, had begun attracting attention. The distillery had various owners over the next century and a half. Among them was Bessie Williamson, who first arrived at the distillery in the mid-1930s and ran Laphroaig from 1954 through 1972, one of the first female owners and distillers in the industry. In 1994, Prince Charles awarded Laphroaig his Royal Warrant; the royal coat of arms still appears on every bottle. That same year, the company created Friends of Laphroaig, the first members’ association of its kind, through which members receive a lifetime lease of a square foot of land on Islay and a dram of Scotch annually.
In 2005, Fortune Brands, owners of Jim Beam Brands, purchased the distillery. The company rebranded as Beam Inc. in 2011 and merged with Suntory in 2014, creating the Beam Suntory company.
Style & Distillation Techniques
Laphroaig has its own peated water source, the Kilbride Reservoir, and maintains and harvests the Glenmachrie peat bog. The distillery malts its own barley and uses peat kilns that were built in 1840. The barley is peated before the drying process, allowing the peat to impart phenolic compounds and a medicinal flavor to the damp barley grains. The peat is burned at a lower temperature than is typical, essentially a cold smoking, further affecting flavor. Laphroaig’s barley usually finishes with a peat level of about 45 phenol ppm. During the distillation process, the spirit run is cut later than is typical, resulting in a less fruity spirit.
Producer Website: Laphroaig