Williamson 2010 15 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch Whisky 57.1%

Nose: ‘Generic’ tarry Islay fishing ropes, but tarred with walnut oil, maple syrup, speculoos and sprinkled with black sesame seeds! Buckets of muscavado, crushed walnuts, arbroath smokies, sugared almonds, date & miso syrup – perhaps a touch of Maggi sauce!

Palate: Hash resin! Over stewed and cold breakfast tea, date and ginger puree, dark miso paste, a hint of (salty) dark soy sauce – The proper stuff! Quintessential Laphroaig notes combine beautifully with an excellent cask, giving balanced sweetness to the tarry heavy smoke.

Finish: Quite punchy, with argon oil, cloves, mace, crushed capers (briney). It lingers and becomes drier with time.

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.

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