By Andy Young
Laphroaig master distiller John Campbell has revealed the brand is releasing four expressions in this its bi-centenary year and all four will be coming to Australia.
The limited edition 15-year-old is already available in Australia and the other three expressions will be coming here soon.
Speaking to TheShout at this week’s Great Whisky Rumble, Campbell said: “Australia is becoming much more important for us as sales are up 300 per cent this year. The team down here are doing a really good job of getting the liquid here and the Australians are doing a good job of consuming.
“The 15-year-old (which is currently available in Australia) is one of four new products. There’s also the Cairdeas, which is coming here and has been launched online; the 21-year-old which has been launched online and they will all be coming to some stores in November.
He added: “Then there is a 32-year-old, which is very limited. I think there is only about 1200 bottles of that. The Australian market is getting an allocation of those, I just don’t know how much.”
Campbell also said that he will be looking for whisky influences during his visit to Australia. “You’re experimenting all the time, it’s just that most of it happens behind closed doors,” he told TheShout. “You try and get different influences, in Australia I’ve visited lots of distilleries and you just try and gain as much knowledge as you can as quickly as you can. There are a lot of people out here who know a lot about everything, whereas I am just a specialist, so just talking to people and engaging with people you get ideas from them.”
And Campbell also revealed that his favourite whisky in the Laphroaig family is the 10-year-old. “It’s the family recipe and if you ever get to Islay, it is the feeling of Islay in a glass. It’s like they talk about terroir with wine, well the 10-year-old is absolutely the feeling of Islay.”