Laphroaig Ian Hunter Book 3 33 Year Old Source Protector (2021) 70cl

This 33-year-old Vintage 1987, Ex-Bourbon Barrel Matured Single Malt is the third release in our series of rare and collectable aged whiskies to celebrate the story of Ian Hunter.

Book Three: Source Protector celebrates the legacy of Ian Hunter, the last of the Johnston family to own and manage the Laphroaig® distillery, and his fight to protect the Kilbride Stream. This is a story of uncompromising guardianship and a battle between neighbours, over every distillery’s essential lifeblood, its source of water.

Having been fully matured in ex-Bourbon barrels, Laphroaig’s characteristic peatiness really shines through the creamy liquorice notes of this 33-year-old single malt, creating a whisky as distinctive as the man it’s named after.

This series of rare and collectable aged whiskies celebrate the story of Ian Hunter, the last of the Johnston family to own and manage the Laphroaig distillery between 1908 and 1944. When describing Ian Hunter, you could very well be describing the taste of our whisky. Both being unique, distinctive, full of character and not always for everyone. But despite his polarising personality, Ian Hunter made Laphroaig what it still is today: a whisky enjoyed the world over by a wide and diverse community of Friends.

During his tenure, Ian Hunter brought together the characteristics of the ancient soil of Islay, the famed nature of the people who live here the art of distillation to set the foundations of Laphroaig and the whisky that you hold in front of you now. Ian secured the distillery’s lease in 1922, broke into America in the time of Prohibition, was the catalyst for a revolution in the use of American White Oak and is the reason why we are still among a handful of distilleries to maintain our own malting floors today. He put his heart and soul into ensuring Laphroaig was a whisky like no other.

Each release in the Ian Hunter series contains a rare and aged Laphroaig, set into a beautifully crafted book that documents a part of Ian’s rich legacy – a legacy that still lives in our whisky. Every year a new chapter is told, uncovering the extensive history behind Laphroaig and the characters who created it, making this a collection unlike any other, and one that is treasured by Laphroaig fans across the world.

Each whisky in the collection lauds a different aspect of Ian’s dedication to making Laphroaig what it is today. Book One celebrates his unique character, Book Two establishes his place as an icon in Islay’s and Laphroaig’s history, Book Three showcases his tenacity and fight to protect the Kilbride Stream, and Book Four honours Ian’s legacy of establishing the malt floors that still impact Laphroaig’s flavour today.