Laphroaig 10 Year
The Laphroaig distillery was founded in 1815 by Donald and Alexander Johnston and has a richly storied history on Islay. Though the distillery has changed ownership after passing out of the Johnston family’s hands in the mid-1950s, production has continued unabated. The current portfolio is large and made up of several age-statement offerings, some cycling in and out of availability, along with a few non-age statement whiskies. Few scotches are more common in liquor stores, restaurants and bars (and home bars), even those not specializing in whiskies, than the Laphroaig 10 Year. Because of its wide availability, it is often the first Islay or first scotch in general that some people experience. Another iconic feature of the brand is the Friends of Laphroaig, a brand loyalty program established in 1994 that purports to give the purchaser of every bottle of the brand a lifetime lease of a square foot of Islay, though the program was revamped in 2020. A popular feature of visiting the distillery is being shown one’s personal square foot while enjoying a dram.
Ardbeg 5 Year Wee Beastie
There has been a growing trend for the past decade and more of fading age statements on scotches as distilleries are feeling the crunch in supply from demand in an exploding global market. Brands have replaced age statements with whiskies lacking them, to varying success, so it is a surprise to see a major distillery like Ardbeg release a new core offering to their line that carries an age statement. Even more unusual is that it is a young age. The unofficial benchmark for most single malts to list their age is 10 years, as evidences by the many 10 or 12-year scotches on the market. Going younger, especially to 5 years – only two years more than the minimum regulated age required to even be called a whisky in the EU – is even more against the grain. While the Wee Beastie is so named to market the rawness of youth, it already holds a place of interest simply for its bold choices.
Fifty Stone
Maine Craft Distilling was founded in 2012 by Luke Davidson and Fred Farber. Like many in the new wave of craft distilling, Luke experimented with a private still (in his barn) after malting grain for local brewers and eventually tried his hand at whiskey, inspired by scotch but using ingredients native to Maine. Like a very few Scottish distilleries, Maine Craft Distilling is a malt-to-barrel operation, with many of the machinery from Scotland. While the distillery makes rums, vodkas, gins and brandy – including a curious blueberry liqueur – the Fifty Stone is their only whiskey. Named after the old British unit of measure, fifty stones was traditionally the weight of barley required to make a barrel of whiskey (one stone usually equaled 14 pounds). The barley is smoked using Maine peat and Maine seaweed. Purportedly made in the Highland (we assume that equates to Scottish) style.