Photography K&S Media; courtesy Laphroaig
While reciting classic Scottish toasts brand Ambassador Simon brooking gives CSL the lowdown on the characteristically smoky single malt scotch whisky.
“My whisky is all about peat,” insists Simon brooking of the single malt Scotch from Islay with a characteristic smoky flavor, “for a lot of folks who are trying Laphroaig for the first time it’s ‘oh it’s like I licked a campfire and I think I liked it’. On second taste and third taste it grows on you. you start getting more of the vanillas and caramel from aging in bourbon barrels.” Employing a staff of twenty seven, Laphroaig boasts a range of whiskies including the quarter cask. “It is a throwback to the early days of whisky making. I find a lot of bourbon drinkers enjoy this. It doesn’t really hit you over the head with smoke that you get with the 10 year. I call it the approachable wild child.” Though peat is essential to Laphroaig so too is water. “We do a lot of things on land like cutting the peat but it’s not until you’re out there on a boat looking at the distillery – it really puts it into perspective how much the water is a big part of this distillery. Where the land meets the sea.” Islay is integral to Laphroaig and the company shares it with customers worldwide – literally. With a purchase customers can become a Friend of Laphroaig receiving a certificate forone square foot of land on Islay. “A gentleman had passed away the year earlier and he was a lifelong Friend of Laphroaig. One of his wishes was that his ashes be spread on his plot. To me that speaks to the passion for this brand.”
Read More in the Spring 2012 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.
