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Laphroaig Distillery,
Port Ellen,
Isle of Islay,
Argyll,
PA42 7DU Tel. 01496 302418
Please confirm with the distillery before travelling
Open 7 days from March to December
Open Mon-Fri during January and February
Several Levels of tours
To arrange a tour of the distillery you can call direct on +44 (0)1496 302418
Laphroaig Scotch Whisky
Distillery Style Tasting Notes
Nose: Very medicinal (TCP).Earthy and smoky.
Palate: Full bodied. Sweet, seaweedy, salty, medicinal.
Finish: Long, sweet and peaty.
Founded in 1815 by Alex & Donald Johnston
Location Islay region south shore district
Water source Kilbride Loch.
Laphroaig Scotch Whisky Distilling Equipment
Original floor maltings and 2 peat kiln. This supplies 15% of the malt, 70% from Port Ellen and 15% from the mainland.
Porteous Mill
Stainless steel lauter mash tun
6 Stainless steel washbacks
7 Stills unusual combination of 3 wash stills and 4 spirit stills, they are “nipped in” at the waist, narrow necked with long ,thin, lyne arms on the wash stills slope upwards at a pronounced angle, the condensers are located behind. The stills where originally built by McDonalds of Edinburgh.
Matured in first fill American oak bourbon hogsheads in 8 dunnage warehouses on the seashore.
Laphroaig Scotch Whisky Distillery History
Lying just west of Lagavulin on the southshore. Alex & Donald Johnston started the Laphroaig distillery in 1815.
During 1836 the distillery became under the sole ownership of Donald Johnston. Unfortunately Donald died after tumbling into a vat of part-processed whisky in 1847.
His son Dugald was too young to take over so the distillery was temporarily leased to Walter Graham.
In 1857 Dugald Johnston takes over and runs the distillery until his death in1877 leaving the distillery to his sisters and brother in law.
At some point in 1921 Ian Hunter takes over and in1923 a pair of new stills are added.
Laphroaig was allowed in to the USA as a "medicinal spirit" during prohibition. Ian Hunter, the owner at the time, gave some US officials some samples of his malt whisky the iodine medicinal flavours won them over.
During the 1930s Bessie Williamson arrives to take up a temporary job at the distillery that lasts for forty years old. Over the following years Ian Hunter passes over his “knowledge” as he sees her as the one person to carry on the Laphroaig tradition. On his death Bessie Williamson inherits distillery in 1954
Being pragmatic Bessie knew for Laphroaig to grow it would require support and resources that only the large companies have so during the 1960s sold the distillery to Long John International
Allied Domecq in turn purchased Long John in 1990
Prince Charles visits and hands over Royal Warrant in 1994.
The distillery is taken over by Fortune Brands Inc in 2005.
With tasting notes of medicinal, TCP mouthwash, phenolic. Iodine-like, seaweedy, tar smoke and peat with a hint of estery sweetness. This is an Islay whisky at industrial strength. Even if the tasting notes are for Diesel This malt whisky is one of the best five sellers in the UK
Johnston name still appears on label.
Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky Distillery Bottlings
Laphroaig 10 Year Old
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength
Laphroaig 18 Year Old
Laphroaig 25 Year Old
Laphroaig Select
Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Laphroaig Triple Wood
Travel Retail Bottlings
Laphroaig An Cuan Mor
Laphroaig PX Cask Pedro Ximenez
Laphroaig QA Cask
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2014
Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky Older Distillery Bottlings
Laphroaig 15 Year Old
Laphroaig 27 Year Old
Laphroaig 30 Year Old
Laphroaig 40 Year Old
Laphroaig 1979 Limited Edition
Laphroaig 1989 aged 17 years
Laphroaig 1994 Islay festival of malt and music
Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Independent Bottlings
A D Rattray
Berry's Own Selection
Box (Sweden)
Cadenhead’s Duthies
Chieftain's
Coopers Choice
Creative Whisky Co
Douglas Laing, Old & Rare, Old Malt Cask, Premier Barrel Provenance
Duncan Taylor Collection
Hart Brothers
Highgrove Visiter centre shop
Kingsbury Japan Import System
Montgomery and Co
Murray McDavid
Norse Cask (Denmark)
Robert Burns (Tas Toe Belguim)
SMWS
Un-Chill Filtered (Signatory).
Whisky Agency (Germany)
Whisky Fair (Germany)
Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky
10 year old, Tasting notes
Colour: Full sparkling gold
Nose: Huge smoke, seaweedy, "medicinal", with a hint of sweetness
Body: Full bodied
Palate: Suprising sweetness with hints of salt and layers of peatiness
Finish: Lingering