History
The Laphroaig distillery was founded in 1815 by the brothers Donald and Alexander Johnston and received the license in the name of Johnston. Originally it was one of the two illegal distilleries their father John already built (from the other was the Lagavulin Distillery).
Because of personal differences took over in 1836, Donald Johnston, the distillery alone and paid off his brother Alexander his share.
Since Donald died in a tragic accident in the distillery in 1847 and his 11-year-old son Dugald was still too young to take over the company, Laphroaig was leased to Walter Graham, the manager of the neighboring Stallion Lagavulin, for about 10 years.
Meaning of the name |
(Beautiful) valley at the wide bay |
Whisky region |
Islay |
Pronunciation |
la-froig |
Status |
In operation |
Owner |
Beam Suntory |
Capacity per year |
3.250.000 Liter |
Address |
Laphroaig Distillery |
Style of the house |
Smoky, peaty, salty / sweetish (sherry), seaweed, medicinal, long |
Contact |
+44(0)1496302418 |
Founding year |
1815 |
The Laphroaig distillery was family owned until the late 1960s. Until she was sold to Long John Distillers in 1967. After further acquisitions in the next few years, the US Fortune Brands - now Suntory Beam Inc. - bought the distillery.
In 1994, Laphroaig was named by Prince Charles for the first and so far only Distillery, as Welsh court purveyo chosen. Since then, the labels of the Bottles the coat of arms and the three feathers.
Production
Laphroaig has, like only a few other distilleries (eg Talisker), an odd number of still, namely seven. The stillhouse houses three wash stills and four spirit stills.
The malting of the barley on site, is done on three floormaltings (malting floors) and the subsequent drying in their own peat-fired kilns (malting barley). In the old mill, the barley is ground to grist before it enters the stainless steel mash tuns and later fermented in the fermentation house with its six huge wash backs (also made of stainless steel).
Since Laphroaig separates the fermentation and burning house, the resulting wash must be filled into tanks via pipes to get into the three wash stills.
The resulting malts are stored in Laphroaig only in ex-Bourbon barrels (first fill) for maturation. Only the limited 30-year-old Laphroaig contains portions of whiskey, which previously stored in sherry casks.
Available from us:
Laphroaig Whisky 10 years 0,7l
Rarity: Laphroaig Whisky 15 years original bottling 0,7l
Laphroaig Quarter Cask 0,7l - Double Cask Scotch Whisky
Laphroaig Select 0,7l - Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Rarity: Laphroaig Whisky 25 years 0,7l Cask Strength bottling 2014