Laphroaig

Before 1810, brothers Alexander Johnston and Donald Johnston were tenant farmers at Tallant and Kildalton. In 1815, they established a distillery at Laphroaig. Their ancestors were the Maclean family from Galloway, Scotland, who had come to Islay in the late 15th century. Their landlord was Walter Frederick Campbell, an enlightened improver. He founded Port Ellen, named for his wife, and Port Charlotte, named for his mother, and enthusiastically supported the distilling industry. Donald Johnston bought his brother's share in 1836, but died in 1847 after falling into a vat of pot ale. His 11-year-old son Dugald inherited the business. Laphroaig was managed by Dugald's uncles, with Walter Graham of the nearby Lagavulin distillery overseeing operations, until Dugald came of age in 1857. The whisky was still labeled 'D. Johnston & Company.' The distillery remained under family management until the 1960s. Perhaps the family's most outstanding descendant was Donald's great-grandson Ian Hunter, who became manager of Laphroaig in 1908 and sole owner twenty years later. His first task was to dismiss the distillery's agent—Mackie & Company of Glasgow. Unusually for the time, Laphroaig was sold as a single malt whisky. Peter Mackie of Lagavulin (later Sir Peter) was furious, as Mackie had 'created the brand.' (See 'Lagavulin') In the 1920s, Ian Hunter began selling his whisky in the United States, despite Prohibition. While abroad, the distillery was managed by his secretary Bessie Williamson. He bequeathed the distillery to her upon his death in 1954. By the mid-1950s, the distillery urgently needed renovation. To raise funds, Bessie Williamson sold one-third of her shares to the American distiller Schenley Corporation. By 1970, Schenley owned the distillery outright. The era of private distillery ownership had ended, and like many others, Laphroaig became a corporate asset on a multinational's balance sheet: Long John International, Whitbread, Allied Lyons, Allied Domecq, and in 2005 Fortune Brands—owner of Jim Beam. Beam Inc. spun off from Fortune Brands in October 2011 and was acquired by Japanese distiller Suntory in March 2014. The company was renamed Beam Suntory (see 'Ardmore').

Bessie Williamson was the first modern woman to manage a distillery (though there were earlier examples, notably Elizabeth Cumming of Cardhu). Whitbread sold Laphroaig to Allied Domecq in 1989, but before that, they appointed Ian Henderson, who would become a whisky trade legend, as distillery manager. The new owners wanted to promote the brand aggressively, and Henderson, as brand ambassador, traveled the world, increasing sales from 20,000 cases in 1989 to 170,000 cases by his retirement in 2002. He also promoted the concept of "Friends of Laphroaig," through which malt whisky enthusiasts could claim a square foot of Islay land (a plot behind the distillery). To date, 470,000 plots have been allocated to people from 165 countries, including the Prince of Wales, who granted his Royal Warrant to Laphroaig in 1994.