17th June 2019 – Beam Suntory’s Laphroaig® has been awarded a total of five medals at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, including a coveted Double Gold for its PX Cask Travel Retail Exclusive.
The awards, from one of the most significant global competitions, further cements Laphroaig’s famously divisive liquid as a true icon of the whisky world.
The top awarded expression was Laphroaig PX Cask Travel Retail Exclusive, which scooped the much-coveted Double Gold with its intense and rich flavour. Matured in three different types of cask – American oak, Quarter casks and finally Pedro Ximénez casks – the whisky is an explosion of peat with a heavy sherried oak dryness.
Gold medals were also awarded to Laphroaig’s 10-year-old, Select and Quarter Cask expressions, showing that the famed divisive whisky is still winning plaudits across the globe for its unique expressions.
Select is created from carefully selected casks of each of the distillery’s key styles. Mostly, these are historic styles, with one notable addition: the heart of the spirit is drawn from a final maturation in American oak casks – rarely used for scotch whisky. Bottled at natural colour, the result is an exquisite Laphroaig with the trademark ‘peat reek’ matched by an additional layer of complexity and depth brought about by the fusion of the maturation styles and different oaks.
Laphroaig 10-year-old is the original Laphroaig, distilled the same way today as when Ian Hunter invented it more than 75 years ago. Those enjoying the 10 Year Old will first notice the bold, smoky taste, followed by a hint of seaweed and a surprising sweetness. This full-bodied variant is the foundation of all Laphroaig expressions and comes with a long finish.
Laphroaig Quarter Cask offers an irresistible doubling of flavour due to the double maturation in two casks made of American oak. Still-maturing whisky from our standard ex-bourbon barrels is transferred to quarter casks and left to rest in our warehouse just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic shore. This process represents Laphroaig breathing new life into a once-defunct tradition: the use of the smaller cask size, which ensures increased contact with the oak, creating a soft and velvety edge to complement Laphroaig’s distinctive peatiness.
John Campbell, Laphroaig Distillery Manager, comments: “Our whisky has been dividing opinions since 1815 and we embrace every one of them – the good and the bad. But that doesn’t mean we’re not incredibly proud when our whisky picks up an award, even more so when five of our whiskies do.”
“The PX Cask Travel Retail Exclusive is an exceptional liquid that has only been in our range for a few years, so to have it award a Double Gold is a terrific achievement for the whole distillery team.”
Alongside the Double Gold award and three Gold medals, Laphroaig Lore also picked up a Silver medal to round off an impressive showing from one of Scotland’s most esteemed distilleries.
Since its introduction in 2000, the SFWSC has become one of the most respected and influential spirits competitions in the world. And that means that the award is one of the most reliable and universal indications of spirits excellence.
The 2019 Competition was the biggest in its history, featuring more than 3,000 entries. Judges of the 2019 Competition were established spirits-industry experts, including: Anthony Dias Blue (Executive Director), author, editor, publisher, and one of the most influential food, wine, and spirits writers and lifestyle personalities in the U.S.A; Tony Abou-Ganim (Director of Judging), the Master-Mixologist, one of the leading pioneers of America’s craft cocktail movement; David Wondrich, James Beard Award–winning author and longtime
Spirits Writer for Esquire Magazine; Julie Reiner, the renowned bartender who has brought New York’s Flatiron Lounge and Clover Club rave reviews and top rankings among the best bars in the world; and Jeffrey Morgenthaler, of Clyde Common at Portland’s Ace Hotel, named America’s Bartender of the Year and the country’s Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer at the 2016 Spirited Award.
The robust judging process includes four days of highly controlled blind tastings, where the experienced judging panels taste every product to decide if it is medal-worthy. Judges do not receive any information on producer or price point, ensuring each spirit is judged fairly, equally, and without bias.
While tasting, judges evaluate each product on an individual basis—not compared to other entries in the flight. During this stage, judges determine which entries are worthy of a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal. Entries that receive a Gold medal from all judges on a panel earn a Double Gold award.
More information about the competition and the winners can be found here: http://sfspiritscomp.com/
1 September 2016: Whether it’s “heavenly golden drops collected in one smokin’ bottle” or
“as if a merman washed his codpiece in antiseptic and dried it by the fire”, Laphroaig® is
celebrating the wild and wonderful descriptions of its award-winning liquid by asking the
public to share their opinions of the single malt Scotch whisky – in 140 characters or less.
Big Opinions will be live for one week only, 11 – 15 October 2016. Showcasing the divided opinions of
whisky fans from all corners of the globe, a real-time Twitter feed of the most outrageous and insightful
opinions will be projected onto the over 200 year old iconic white wall of the Laphroaig® distillery, Warehouse
No.1. Every opinion will be selected for display by Distillery Manager, John Campbell and will be presented
alongside the author’s Twitter handle, capturing their individual impression of Laphroaig’s distinctive and
widely divisive flavour profile.
BIG OPINIONS
The latest activation from the award-winning #OpinionsWelcome™ campaign, Big Opinions, asks whisky
lovers – and haters – to put their impression of Laphroaig® into words using the hashtag #OpinionsWelcome;
no easy feat. The Big Opinions campaign showcases the vivid descriptions of the International whisky
community and brings Laphroaig’s valued customers across the world closer to the distillery, in true
#OpinionsWelcome™ style.
The spectacle can be watched live at www.laphroaig.com/opinions, which will capture every imaginative post
throughout the 5-day event. Those selected to feature in the Big Opinions projection will receive photography
and a video of their own opinion up in lights on the distillery wall for the world to see, to share with their
fellow whisky drinkers.
THE DIVISIVE SINGLE MALT
Of all the Islay peated malts, it is Laphroaig® that gets the most extreme reactions. It’s a complex beast, and as
such has always divided opinion. You love it or you hate it – you are rarely indifferent. With its pungent,
earthy aroma of peat smoke, the sweet nuttiness of the barley and the heathery perfume of the Kilbride stream,
GLOBAL TRADE PRESS RELEASE SEPTEMBER 2016
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Laphroaig® is an unapologetically bold, rich and heavily peated single malt. It’s this complex flavour profile that
has garnered an impressively loyal and passionate following of whisky enthusiasts from around the world.
The iconic white wall of Warehouse No.1 with the bold Laphroaig® logo painted along its side is an instantly
recognisable symbol of the Scotch whisky’s long and illustrious heritage on Islay, whether you’re arriving at the
port from boat, plane or by foot.
#OpinionsWelcome™ is an open-armed invitation for all to express their feelings on this divisive whisky. Big
Opinions gives the public the chance to voice their opinions to the world. Be candid. Be real. Let creativity run
riot.
Remaining true to its word, your opinion of Laphroaig® truly is welcome.
Find out more about sharing your opinion at www.laphroaig.com/opinions
Laphroaig® press information:
For more information or images contact the Laphroaig® press office:
Laphroaig@ldrlondon.com | +44 207 851 6629
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