Laphroaig whiskies

History

The Johnston brothers founded the distillery at the beginning of the 19th century, and their descendants ran it for more than a century. In the mid-20th century the distillery passed to Bessie Williamson, who had started as a secretary and became one of the first women to run a Scotch whisky distillery; under her management it was modernised and grew. It then passed through several groups until reaching Beam and then Suntory. In the 1990s it received a Royal Warrant, and its friends’ club, which gives members a small symbolic plot of land on the island, has members all over the world.

House style

Laphroaig’s style is intense and medicinal: peat smoke, iodine, seaweed, tar and salt, with a sweet background of vanilla, liquorice and fruit. Its own floor maltings, with local peat, bring a very distinctive smoke. The house matures mainly in bourbon casks, and Quarter Cask adds time in small casks, which intensify the wood and vanilla.

Where to start

Laphroaig 10 Year Old is the classic and the best way to find out whether you like this very marked style. Quarter Cask is more intense and sweeter, at a good strength. If you want something gentler, Select is a friendlier way in. Lore combines many casks and ages and offers a more complex, rounded version of the house.

• Laphroaig 10 Year OldSingle malt · 40% ABV
• Laphroaig Quarter CaskSingle malt · 48% ABV
• Laphroaig SelectSingle malt · 40% ABV