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Port Ellen, Isle of Islay · Islay

Laphroaig

Gaelic · lag
Laph
hollow
+
Norse · breiðr + vík
roaig
The theory that it is a wide bay

It is officially presented as meaning beautiful hollow by the broad bay. It is safer to examine the details of the mixture of Gaelic and Old Norse together rather than confirming them as one.

Laphroaig 10 Year Old

Islay Single Malt · 40%Floor malting · cold peat smoke
One thing to remember

Smoke does not occur during ripening. It goes in first when the wet malt is slowly dried with peat smoke.

DISTIL · MATURE
EX-BOURBON
10 YEARS
Why it tastes like this
01 · steeping

Barley drinks enough water

Repeat soaking and draining the dried barley in water. The barley, which has retained moisture, prepares to sprout as if winter has passed and spring has arrived.

02 · floor malting

Spread out on the ground and sprout.

Spread the soaked barley thinly on the malting floor. Enzymes produced as the sprouts grow prepare to convert the starch in the barley into sugar that can be used for fermentation.

03 · turning

Turn over with your hand to remove heat evenly.

Budding barley generates its own heat. Workers periodically turn the barley to loosen clumps and prevent temperature and moisture from converging on one side.

04 · Islay peat

Lighting Islay peat

Wetland plants use peat accumulated over a long period of time as fuel. It is important to produce thick, cool smoke for a longer period of time than a roaring fire.

05 · cold smoke

The smoke component sticks to the wet malt.

Cold peat smoke passes through the bottom of the kiln and slowly dries the malt. At this time, the van phenol component becomes Laphroaig's unique scent reminiscent of earth, ash, seaweed and medicine.

06 · ex-bourbon cask

Sweetness sticks to the strong smoke.

The distilled spirit spends at least 10 years in American oak barrels that previously contained bourbon. Vanilla and soft sweetness are added, but the peat smoke that first entered the malt remains clearly.

Flavour

Based on Laphroaig 10 Year Old.

Sherry 5Citrus 32Oak 58Malt 70Floral · vanilla 22Peat 100

The peat axis extends outward. A scent reminiscent of wood fire-like smoke as well as wet earth, ash, seaweed, and disinfectant comes all at once.

Below that is the nutty taste of malt and the sweetness of vanilla from bourbon oak barrels. Lemon-like freshness and oak's bitterness take the edge off the strong smoke.

This value is not a public composition table, but rather the sensory impression of the reference bottling transferred to the same six axes.

Particulars
Region
Port Ellen · Islay
Founded
1815
Category
Single Malt Scotch
Mash bill
Peated malted barley
Malting
Traditional floor malting
Stills
7 pot stills
Casks
Ex-bourbon barrels
Age · ABV
10 years · 40%
Signature notes
Peat smoke · seaweed · iodine · vanilla
In detail

Brothers Donald and Alexander Johnston founded Laphroaig south of Islay in 1815. The water of the creek and Kilbride Creek where the distillery is located is the key to describing Laphroaig's location to this day.

Although not all malt is made directly at the distillery, the original malting floor and kilns are still used. It is like a symbol of Laphroaig in that it continues to show at least part of the traditional process that is difficult for machines to replace.

There is no need to misunderstand Laphroaig's medicinal scent as the taste of actual medicine. The nose interprets the phenolic scent in peat smoke as if it were disinfectant, iodine, or seaweed. If you find the vanilla and sweetness hidden behind that strong impression, this whisky looks much more three-dimensional.

Appendix

The brand describes Laphroaig as ‘a beautiful hollow next to a wide bay.’ The interpretation that the front part is Gaelic lag and the back part is Old Norse meaning wide bay is widely used, but the spelling and combination process is not simple. Therefore, the morpheme markings on this page are a guide to understanding the meaning and are not a definitive linguistic breakdown.

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