Laphroaig Elements 3.0 Ballot

Brothers Donald and Alexander Johnston leased a thousand acres near the head of Loch Laphroaig on Islay (Laphroaig meaning “the beautiful hollow by a broad bay” in Gaelic) with the simple intention of raising cattle. Barley grown for winter feed soon proved more plentiful than the herd required, and with true island pragmatism the brothers turned their surplus into whisky. What ran from their stills, fed by the soft, peaty waters of the Kilbride Stream, quickly outshone the farm itself. By the end of 1815, the brothers had unwittingly given birth to one of Scotland’s most distinctive spirits.

Laphroaig grew, and in 1836 Donald offered to buy out Alexander’s share for £350, which he took and emigrated to Australia. Donald, now sole steward of the young distillery, ran it until a tragic accident claimed his life in 1847. Walter Graham of neighbouring Lagavulin stepped in to keep the stills warm, while the Johnston family and close friends rallied around to preserve what the brothers had begun. A decade later, in 1857, Donald’s son Dugald took the helm, and under his care Laphroaig’s fame continued to rise, so much so that local blending merchants, Mackie & Co, purchased vast quantities for their recipes. Their enthusiasm became a threat, leaving too little whisky available for Laphroaig’s own single malt. When Dugald died in 1877, his sister Isabella took charge, determined to guide the distillery through its increasingly tense relationship with its powerful neighbour.

By the late 19th century those tensions had reached breaking point. In 1907, Peter Mackie attempted to choke off the distillery’s lifeblood by blocking the Kilbride Stream with stones, effectively cutting off the distillery's water source used for both making the whisky, and cooling the plant. The courts forced him to undo the damage, but the feud escalated further when Mackie lured away Laphroaig’s brewer the following year and constructed a meticulous replica of the stillhouse, in a doomed attempt to duplicate the whisky. Of course, it failed. Laphroaig’s character had never been something that could be copied with blueprints.

The distillery entered a new era in 1921 when Ian Hunter, great-grandson of Donald Johnston and the last of the founding family, took over. Hunter was a visionary, fierce in his convictions, not unlike the whisky he championed. Two years later, in 1923, he began an ambitious expansion, purchasing land, rebuilding parts of the distillery, and doubling the stills from two to four. He recreated the originals exactly, believing that shape and size held the soul of Laphroaig. He even redesigned the malting floor, adding great coastal windows and fans to draw in fresh Atlantic air, ensuring the island’s brine and seaweed never strayed far from the barley. After Isabella’s passing in 1928, he became sole owner, and in 1929 he watched proudly as Laphroaig’s smoky, thick character began winning over drinkers in Scandinavia, Latin America, Europe, and even Prohibition-era America.

In the summer of 1935, a young woman named Bessie Williamson arrived with little more than a suitcase of clothes for a three-month job at the distillery, and stayed for life. Hunter recognised her passion and over many years entrusted her with every secret of the distillery, including his growing belief in the virtues of ex-Bourbon maturation. When he died in 1954, Bessie became owner, one of the pioneering women in whisky, strengthening Laphroaig’s ties with the island and its people. However she realised that for Laphroaig to grow, it needed international support. She gradually sold her ownership to Seager Evans & Co. who brought investment and the freedom to take Laphroaig out to the world. Come 1967, Seager Evans had completed the takeover, and increased the still count to five.

By 1972, the distillery had grown again to seven stills, the number it retains to this day. Ownership shifted to Whitbread in 1975 and later to Allied Domecq in 1989, but through every transition Laphroaig kept its fierce commitment to tradition.

In 1994, HRH Prince Charles visited the distillery, later awarding it a Royal Warrant, the only Scotch whisky to enjoy that honour. His Royal Highness even signed the Visitors’ Book and said: “I hope you continue to use the traditional methods. I think you make the finest whisky in the world.” Laphroaig is clearly his favourite whisky, because as King, Charles awarded another Royal Warrant in May of 2024. 1994 was also when beloved distillery manager Iain Henderson founded Friends of Laphroaig, gifting each member a lifetime lease on a square foot of peatland and inviting them home each year to collect their rent: a dram.

The new century brought new custodians. Fortune Brands (Beam) took ownership in 2005, with Islay native John Campbell becoming the first ever Ileach distillery manager a year later. His 16-year tenure produced countless modern classics including the first Càirdeas release in 2008. Then in 2014, Beam Global joined the Suntory family.

The bicentenary year of 2015 saw grand celebrations and the raising of a dry-stone cairn beside the Kilbride Stream to honour the water that shaped the whisky. In 2022, another local, Barry MacAffer, became distillery manager, having grown up playing among its buildings. With the blessing of John Campbell, he continued the island-born stewardship of Laphroaig. However, Barry's tenure was short lived, and in 2024 George Campbell, who began his whisky life as a Laphroaig tour guide before honing his skills in Australia, returned to Islay to lead the next chapter.

Through all this history, the whisky itself has always remained rooted in its place. Laphroaig keeps traditions that many distilleries have long since left behind, including its own floor maltings, responsible for around a fifth of its needs. Barley is soaked for two days in Kilbride Stream water, drained, and spread across cool stone floors where the maltmen turn it daily, transforming starch to sugar. Great bay-facing windows allow Atlantic air to flow in, carrying salt and seaweed tang that whisper into the malt.

Peating happens in 1840-built kilns, also overlooking the bay. Laphroaig burns peat at low temperatures in a kind of cold smoking, allowing the phenolic compounds to rise gently through the perforated floors and into the damp barley. The grain, raised high above the fire, dries slowly, giving it more time to absorb the tarry, iodine-rich signature that no other Islay distillery quite matches.

Once malted, the barley moves to the mash house, where it’s milled into grist and combined in a stainless-steel mash tun with more Kilbride water. Starting at 63.5°C, the wort is drawn off in stages until around 10,500 litres of sugary liquid are ready for fermentation. Yeast transforms this wort over the next two days, building fruity notes atop that deep smoke.

Distillation takes place across seven copper stills. Laphroaig features three wash, and four spirit stills, with one spirit still twice the size of the others. Its character is blended back into the smaller stills’ output, ensuring harmony. The lyne arms rise unusually high, and combined with Laphroaig’s slow distillation rate, they lift away heavy oils, keeping the new make surprisingly light-bodied beneath its thunderous peat. Cuts are made later than almost anywhere else, capturing heavier phenolics and preserving the tarry, herbal character that defines the spirit.

Almost all casks are ex-Bourbon barrels sourced from Maker’s Mark in Kentucky, a tradition dating back to Ian Hunter’s voyages to America after Prohibition. Their American oak lends sweetness—vanilla, honeyed grain, soft tobacco and leather. The warehouses lining the coast season the whisky with salt and sea air. Summer warmth pushes the spirit deep into the wood; winter draws it back, carrying colour and character with it. Some Sherry casks sleep quietly in the warehouses too, typically reserved for longer maturations.

When the whisky is ready, casks are married, the spirit is bottled, the labels applied, and Laphroaig begins its journey to glasses around the world. More than 200 years after the Johnstons first distilled their surplus barley, Laphroaig remains unmistakably itself; smoky, maritime, medicinal, bold, and beloved. Forever shaped by the rugged island that gave it life.