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Our Land
60,000 YEARS IN THE MAKING
A remote island. An unpredictable climate. A community that’s learned to thrive here. Every element of Islay is a dear and true friend to our whisky. Sure, we’ve honed a nifty process over the years. But when we think about what makes Laphroaig, it comes down to a stroke of geographic serendipity and a bunch of hard grafters.
Elements of Islay
Fire
Like the peat in our kilns, our community here on Islay fuels our whisky-making.
This hardy bunch think nothing of popping out in sideways-rain, battering-gales and whipping-winds to get Laphroaig made.
As Ilich (that’s Gaelic for Islay folk), we like to think our strength of character and sense of community are unique to the far-flung tiny island we call home. Because there’s no place quite like it. And we’re sure you’ll agree, there’s no whisky quite like ours either.
Water
The Kilbride Stream. We think of it as the lifeblood of Laphroaig. Not only does it act as a coolant during the whisky-making process, but this precious, murky waterway also contributes to Laphroaig’s distinctive flavour. When it travels from the overflow of the Kilbride dam to the distillery, it passes over peat bogs. Unique to our land, these peat bogs mainly consist of decayed seaweed and heather, which might ring a bell in your tastebuds if you’ve ever had a dram of our whisky.
Earth
Every peat bog has a unique composition. Ours is a heady mix of the heather, lichen, seaweed, moss and woodland that decayed over the centuries. We like to think there’s even a touch of volcanic residue from the island’s formation 60,000 years ago.
So how do we get all these flavour profiles into our whisky? Simple – we burn the peat at unusually low temperatures, creating a cold smoke to flavour our barley. It’s this process that blesses Laphroaig with a peaty punch, setting it apart from other whiskies.
Air
Huddled in the Atlantic, the isle of Islay gets its fair share of intense moods from the ocean. But we can take it. In fact, we welcome it. The Atlantic breeze helps us control the temperature of our barley. To keep it at around 18°C, we use an ancient method of heat regulation called – wait for it – ‘opening and closing windows’. The saline air that whips in during this process gives Laphroaig its welcome salty notes.
Explore it by yourself
The distillery is perched on the shore, exposed to all the elements the Hebridean Sea can throw at it. Our cherished Kilbride Stream is right beside us. And so is the rich Islay peatland we’ve been infusing into our whisky for over 200 years.
Visit the Laphroaig Distillery to explore, taste and feel it all by yourself.
