Laphroaig 16 Year Old Whisky 48%

Official Tasting Notes

Nose: Sweet leather, oaky spices, vanilla and wood character with gorse flowers and heather fragrance, roasted chestnuts with rich maple syrup, a touch of black pepper.

Palate:  Sweet with treacle and caramel, Manuka honey and thyme but also intense wood smoke, creosote, lots of floral notes of heather and bergamot, and a chili mouthfeel.

Finish: Long lasting, smoky, sweet and salted seaweed, medicinal character.

Laphroaig is located on Islay’s south coast and was founded by farmers Donald and Alexander Johnston in 1815. Named after its position ‘broad hollow by the bay’ the distillery remained in family ownership for over a hundred and thirty years. Back in the early days word spread of this particularly delicious whisky with it’s soft, peaty water source and the farmers quickly realised distilling was a more lucrative proposition.
Laphroaig is now owned by Beam Suntory and is the largest seller of single malt whisky on Islay. The distillery’s production capacity is 3.3 million litres of alcohol and with 34 mashes per week it has been running at full capacity for a number of years. The whisky is know for its smoky style which is individual and unique. Being so close to the coast the the peat used to smoke the barley has a higher moss content which adds to its distinctive character. Interestingly a great series of bottling’s named The Ian Hunter Story have been introduced which pay homage to the last of the Johnston family to own Laphroaig. In 2022 book four of the five Ian Hunter Story series was released.