Laphroaig Distillery

Laphroaig is the Islay single malt that people either love or avoid. It is made on the south coast of the island, a few miles from Port Ellen, and it has been making whisky on the same shore since 1815. If you want to know what peated whisky tastes like at its most medicinal, and why Islay has such a following, Laphroaig is the place to start.

Who owns Laphroaig?

Laphroaig is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, the drinks arm of the Japanese group Suntory, which was known as Beam Suntory until it was renamed. Suntory bought the distillery in 2014, when it bought the American company Beam Inc. for around $16 billion (about £12 billion). Before that, Laphroaig had passed through a number of big drinks groups, including Allied Domecq and Beam Inc.

In Scotland it sits alongside other Suntory distilleries such as Bowmore, Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch, and in Japan alongside Yamazaki and Hakushu. For the wider picture of which company owns which whisky, see our guide to who owns what in whisky.

The history of Laphroaig Distillery

Laphroaig was founded in 1815 by two brothers, Donald and Alexander Johnston, on their family farm on the shore of Islay. The name is usually said to come from Gaelic and to mean something like the beautiful hollow by the broad bay. The distillery stayed with the Johnston family for over a century before the Hunter family took it on in the 1920s.

The best-known name in the story is Bessie Williamson. She joined as a secretary in the 1930s, rose to run the distillery and inherited it when Ian Hunter died in 1954, which made her one of the first women to run a Scotch distillery. During American Prohibition, Laphroaig is said to have been sold as a medicine, which fits the brand’s old-fashioned reputation. The distillery received a Royal Warrant from Prince Charles in 1994.

Laphroaig is also known for the Friends of Laphroaig, a long-running club. Members are given a square foot of land on Islay, and the story goes that they can claim a dram of whisky as the rent. To place it against the island’s other names, read the Islay whisky boom and our beginner’s guide to Islay whisky.

How Laphroaig is made

Laphroaig makes its whisky from malted barley, water and yeast, like any single malt. What sets it apart is the peat. The barley is dried over a peat fire, and the smoke passes into the grain. Laphroaig is one of only a few Islay distilleries that still malts some of its own barley on a traditional floor, and it uses peat from its own moss on the island. The malt is peated to roughly 40 ppm phenols, which is heavy, though not the heaviest on Islay. Our guide to how peat works in whisky explains the numbers.

The water comes from the Kilbride Stream. The distillery has seven copper pot stills, three for the first distillation and four for the second. The spirit is matured mostly in first-fill ex-bourbon American oak barrels, and parts of the range use smaller quarter casks or sherry wood.

Why does Laphroaig taste medicinal?

The iodine, seaweed and antiseptic notes come from the combination of peat smoke and the coastal setting. The smoke gives tar, ash and bonfire. The sea air and the long, slow maturation next to the water are often credited with the salty, briny edge. Under it all sits a sweet, creamy core of vanilla from the bourbon barrels, which is why the whisky is less one-dimensional than its reputation. For the wider context, see how whisky is made.

The Laphroaig range

The core range starts with the 10 Year Old and moves into cask-led and older bottlings. The main expressions are:

• 10 Year Old (40% ABV in most markets), the benchmark and the bottle that built the brand. Read our Laphroaig 10 review.
• Quarter Cask (48% ABV), finished in small quarter casks for a creamier, rounder and sweeter dram. See our Laphroaig Quarter Cask review.
• Triple Wood (48% ABV), matured in bourbon barrels, then quarter casks, then European oak sherry casks.
• 10 Year Old Cask Strength, bottled in batches without added water, usually well above 55% ABV. See our guide to cask strength whisky.
• Select and Lore, a smoother no-age-statement blend and a richer, older-leaning bottling.
• 16 Year Old and 18 Year Old (48% ABV), older expressions where the smoke is softer and the fruit and spice come forward.
• Càirdeas, a limited edition released each year for the Friends of Laphroaig.

Unsure where to begin? Start with the 10 Year Old, then try the Quarter Cask. To see how it compares with its two closest neighbours, read Laphroaig vs Ardbeg vs Lagavulin. Other Islay malts we have reviewed include Ardbeg 10, Lagavulin 16 and Kilchoman Machir Bay. Our note on age statements versus NAS helps with the younger bottlings, and the one on sherry cask versus bourbon cask shows why the cask matters here.

How to drink Laphroaig

Laphroaig is best taken neat, or with a few drops of water to open it up. Give it a minute in the glass first, because the smoke is strong at the start and the sweetness comes through as it settles. It also works in cocktails. The Penicillin uses a float of Islay whisky on top, and Laphroaig is the classic choice for it. If you are new to the style, our beginner’s guide to Islay whisky suggests an order to try things in.

Visiting Laphroaig Distillery on Islay

The distillery stands on the shore about three miles east of Port Ellen, on the road towards Ardbeg and Lagavulin, which makes it easy to visit all three in a day. Islay is reached by ferry from Kennacraig to Port Ellen, or by a short flight from Glasgow. Tours range from a standard distillery tour to longer experiences that include the peat fields, and the visitor centre has a shop and tasting room. Summer and the Fèis Ìle festival in late May fill up early, so book ahead and check the distillery website for the current tour list and opening hours.

Laphroaig: quick answers