PASSION, PASSED ON
Laphroaig’s whisky making tradition has been passed down by distillery managers since the first drop rolled off the still in 1815. Ian Hunter, Bessie Williamson, John MacDougal, Denise Nicole, Iain Henderson and the incumbent John Campbell were all protective custodians of the art of Laphroaig.
Each brought their own influence, of course, but all respected the unique elements that make Laphroaig the whisky it is. The Kilbride Stream, hand-cut peat, floor malted barley, cold-smoking kilns, mash tuns, copper alchemy and the subtlety of oak aging. Each and every stage crucial in producing the most richly flavored of all Scotch whiskies.
Let John Campbell, Laphroaig’s Distillery Manager take you on a tour of the Laphroaig making process.
1. KILBRIDE STREAM
Whisky needs water and all of Laphroaig’s are sourced from Kilbride Reservoir – the distilleries very own supply.
Learn more about the unique water source Laphroaig holds so dear:
2. PEAT CUTTING BED
Islay is particularly famous for its peated single malt whiskies. Laphroaig hand-cuts their peat the traditional way because it's not mud, it's flavour. the beds.
3. LAPHROAIG’S MALTING FLOORS
One of the few remaining Scottish distilleries to malt their own barley
4. THE PEAT KILN
Almost as old as the distillery itself, Laphroaig’s peat kilns are major flavour makers.
5. MASH HOUSE & THE PROCESS OF FERMENTATION
Release the sugar and understand the magic of yeast. The alcohol maker
6. THE STILLHOUSE
The alchemy of copper and the skill of stillmen
7. THE LONG SLEEP Image
The art of maturation in the place the angels dare to tread
Laphroaig Timeline
On the far edge of the Scotch whisky map, it's supposed that the art of distillation was first brought to Islay by Irish monks. Being remote, it’s an art that flourished in the hands of the islanders, whose illegal operations tested the resolve and means of the tax man. Eventually, the law relaxed, various whisky makers set up legitimate distilleries, among them a pair of farmers, Donald and Alexander Johnston, who in 1815 founded their distillery on the island’s south coast. Laphroaig, so called after its location, ‘broad hollow by the bay.’ It would remain in family hands for the next 139 years
