Tales of Peat

We’re often asked what makes our whisky a cut above the rest. The secret? Quite simply, it’s the essence of Islay itself. Peat.

We source soft, non-mineralised water from Islay’s local Kilbride Reservoir to soak our barley. We use hand cut peat turfs infused with heather, lichen, and moss for cold smoking in the kilns. And we’ve been doing so ever since 1815, when farming brothers Donald and Alexander Johnston first leased acres from the Laird of Islay and discovered distilling was more profitable than farming, resulting in the birth of a whisky with distinctive, peaty, and earthy flavours known today as Laphroaig.

It's Islay’s peat that gives our whisky it’s unique characteristics. Find out what happens when taste trailblazing Fire Chef Francis Mallmann uses it to influence the personality of his open fire cooking.