{"product_id":"laphroaig-26-year-old-1998-smws-oloroso-sherry-cask-29-297-islay-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","title":"Laphroaig 26 Year Old 1998 SMWS Oloroso Sherry Cask 29.297 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl","description":"\u003ch2\u003eLaphroaig 26 Year Old 1998 SMWS Oloroso Sherry Cask 29.297 Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2025) 70cl\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1of 214 bottles finished in a single Oloroso Sherry Cask\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eScotch Malt Whisky Society\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewas founded in Edinburgh in 1983 by Phillip 'Pip' Hills who, while travelling around Scotland in the 1970s, fell in love with whiskies drawn straight from the cask. After he expanded his syndicate the Society was purchased by Glenmorangie PLC in 2004. In 2015, the Society was sold back to private investors. In June 2021, the private owners floated the holding company The Artisanal Spirits Company plc on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt has a unique code system where the first number refers to the distillery and the second refers to the cask from which the bottle comes. SMWS also offers the largest range of distilleries of any independent bottler. These curiously named drams really do have something for every whisky lover!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan data-teams=\"true\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA storm of peat bricks and honey-grilled goodness. Smoked dates wrapped in habanero bacon and pistachio baklava and brown sugar-grilled lemonade. The palate surges with yakitori chicken skewers and sweet soy sauce, finishing with aniseed, cinnamon, nutmeg and sarsaparilla.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTASTING NOTES\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter being served smoked dates wrapped in habanero bacon followed by smoked pistachio baklava – as well as dried apricot, fig and fennel seed flapjacks – we were ready for a drink. We got smoky liquorice root tea, brown sugar-grilled lemonade and a 'penicillin' cocktail of smoky whisky, fresh lemon juice and honey-ginger syrup, garnished with a barbecued lemon slice. After reduction more spices appeared: aniseed, cinnamon, nutmeg and sarsaparilla, plus pimentón dulce (sweet smoked Spanish paprika). On the palate we tucked into yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken skewers) served with a sweet soy sauce. Following 23 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a second fill Spanish oak oloroso hogshead.\u003c\/p\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 Bessie Williamson who 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\u003cp\u003e59% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Laphroaig","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52792569790802,"sku":"LAP26SMWS29.297","price":499.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/Laphroaig26YearOld1998SMWSOlorosoSherryCask29.297IslaySingleMaltScotchWhisky_2025_70cl.jpg?v=1771974098","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/laphroaig-26-year-old-1998-smws-oloroso-sherry-cask-29-297-islay-single-malt-scotch-whisky-2025-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}