{"product_id":"laphroaig-18-year-old-1997-signatory-vintage-single-bourbon-cask-3371-islay-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2016-70cl","title":"Laphroaig 18 Year Old 1997 Signatory Vintage Single Bourbon Cask #3371 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2016) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eLaphroaig 18 Year Old 1997 Signatory Vintage Single Bourbon Cask #3371 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2016) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 of 243 bottles produced from a single bourbon cask. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLaphroaig is already the king's favourite whisky, and independently bottled single cask Laphroaig is the only thing that is better than a standard release. Laphroaig in its unadultered form is divine stuff.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eNose:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eSweet, fruity and lightly medicinal, with lots of dried grapefruit, and a hint of dusty banana lollies. Some cold wood embers and a little spent gunpowder. Some aniseed as well, and damp rocks on a beach. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTexture:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eLovely. Medium weight, no heat at all, and plenty of flavour. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTaste:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eCrumbly, dry and spicy peat, more wood embers, but they're hot now, and there's some ash as well. Hint of that dried grapefruit from the nose, but it's much more subtle now. A hint of iodine and plasticky rubber as well. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"separator\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFinish:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eMedium length, with more fruit \u0026amp; ash, and less peat although it's still there. A little bitterness as well, then some more aniseed and damp rock. Gets subtle and soft quite quickly, but then resurges with more iodine and a gentle coastal peat. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Laphroaig\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnother of the Kildalton triumvirate, Laphroaig is a substantial distillery with seven stills and a capacity of over 3m litres per annum (that’s 1m more than Lagavulin and 2m more than Ardbeg).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnusually for a distillery of this size Laphroaig has retained its own floor maltings which still account for 20% of its requirements. They have been retained specifically because it is believed that the Laphroaig kiln produces a more creosote-like phenolic character than the malt the distillery receives from the Port Ellen maltings. Certainly, a tarry iodine note is one of the signatures of the spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe odd number of stills includes a spirit still which is double the size of its neighbours. As this produces a different character new make it is always blended in with those from the smaller ones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA very long fore shot run means there are less estery notes in the new make, while a deeper cut means that heavier phenolics are captured compared to Ardbeg and Lagavulin. Its distinct sweet note therefore comes from the preferred cask type used – ex-Bourbon barrels. These, the distillery says, became the norm at Laphroaig post-Prohibition when Ian Hunter began travelling to the US. The effect of this type of oak is showcased in the Quarter Cask release where a vatting of younger Laphroaigs is finished in small casks. Some Sherry casks are in the inventory and are mostly used for longer-term maturation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason so many existing Islay distilleries came into being before the ‘official’ 1824 start date is down to the influence of Islay’s laird, Walker Frederick Campbell. Islay was less brutally cleared than other islands and as an ‘improving’ landlord Campbell was keen to start new businesses on the island. Islay already had a reputation for moonshine, so legal distilling made sense. The fact that Campbell was also actively involved meant that it was harder to continue with illicit activities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, in 1815, brothers Alexander and Donald Johnston built a distillery at Laphroaig. Donald, who ran the distillery, tragically died in 1847 after falling into a vat of boiling pot ale. Laphroaig however remained in the control of D. Johnston \u0026amp; Co. until the 1960s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts rise to fame began at the start of the 20th century with the arrival of Donald's great-grandson, Ian Hunter. It was he who, in 1908, changed agent from Peter Mackie and prompted the building of Malt Mill. By the 1920s Laphroaig was being sold as a single malt and in 1924, the number of stills were increased to four. On his death in 1954 he left the distillery to his secretary\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/scotchwhisky.com\/magazine\/whisky-heroes\/9386\/bessie-williamson-laphroaig\/\"\u003eBessie Williamson\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewho had been the de-facto manager during his extensive international sales trips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmerican distiller, Schenley, bought into the distillery in the 1960s, buying it outright in 1967. By the time Bessie retired in 1972, the number of stills had been increased to seven. A period of passing through various hands and amalgamations ended when Jim Beam purchased it from Allied Distillers in 2005. In the intervening period Prince Charles had awarded his favourite single malt his own Royal Warrant. In the same year, 1994, the Friends of Laphroaig was launched, the first of the modern ‘member’s associations’ phenomenon – there are currently 638,000 members. In a creative piece of marketing – initiated by legendary manager Iain Henderson – Friends were given a square foot of Islay which they leased back to the distillery in exchange for a year’s ‘rent’ of a miniature of Laphroaig which could only be claimed by visiting the distillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeam’s takeover by Suntory in 2014 has resulted in the Japanese-American giant now owning two of Islay’s eight distilleries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout Signatory Vintage \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerthshire-based independent bottler and owner of Edradour distillery. Signatory is an independent bottler with a vigorous release policy, and usually some 50 different single malt expressions are available at any one time. Whiskies are bottled across a number of ranges, including the Un-chill Filtered Collection, the Cask Strength Collection and the Single Grain Collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignatory bottling, bonding and office facilities are located in a building adjacent to Edradour distillery, near Pitlochry in Perthshire, which the company also owns. Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky was established in 1988 by Andrew Symington, who had previously managed the prestigious Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh. The first cask bottled by Symington was a 1968 Sherry-cask-matured Glenlivet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSignatory was initially based in the Newhaven area of Edinburgh, where a bottling plant was developed, but in 2002 the firm acquired Edradour distillery from Pernod Ricard, and subsequently moved all of its operations north to the picturesque Perthshire location.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA new bottling plant and a warehousing complex were constructed, strictly in keeping with the vernacular architectural style which prevails at the much-visited and diminutive former farm distillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e55.2% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laphroaig","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52791776477522,"sku":"LAP18SVSC3371","price":335.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/Laphroaig18YearOld1997SignatoryVintageSingleBourbonCask_3371IslaySingleMaltScotchWhisky_2016_70cl.jpg?v=1771965247","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/laphroaig-18-year-old-1997-signatory-vintage-single-bourbon-cask-3371-islay-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2016-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}