Nachdem der neue Laphroaig 30yo The Ian Hunter Story „Book One“ nun am Markt ist, wollten wir natürlich nicht nur wissen, wie er schmeckt (unsere Tasting Notes zu ihm finden Sie hier), sondern auch etwas mehr über die Abfüllung und ihre Bedeutung für Laphroaig erfahren. Wer könnte da kompetenter Auskunft geben als John Campbell?
Der Distillery Manager und Master Distiller hat sich dankenswerter Weise Zeit genommen, unsere Fragen zum Laphroaig 30yo The Ian Hunter Story „Book One“ und zur Zukunft der Serie zu beantworten:
Whiskyexperts: Are there still items in the distillery that remind of Ian Hunter?
John Campbell: Yes lots of the buildings remain Ian Hunters legacy and the 10 year old recipe. All the buildings along the shoreline are Ians legacy.
Whiskyexperts: When did the idea for Laphroaig Ian Hunter „Book One“ come up?
John Campbell: Around the bicentienary year 2015.
Whiskyexperts: Apart from the Bourbon Casks: Did Laphroaig had a certain style in mind or was it more like: Let’s see what we can do with what we have?
John Campbell: It had to be a bourbon barrel first as this is one of Ian Hunters legaces to Laphroaig as he introduced them to the site, and would be one of the first distillers in Scotland to do so.
Whiskyexperts: With that in mind: Tell us a little about the cask selection – what were the criterias? Shed some light on the process how a certai whisky is composed, please.
John Campbell: This was very simple in that we want to create whisky to match the stories and the legacy of the man.
Whiskyexperts: We have already been able to report about some older Laphroaig bottlings. You seem to have quite some old casks at Laphroaig, can you tell us a little bit more about this kind of stock?
John Campbell: Yes we have managed to generally keep small amounts of old stock throughout our single malt releases over the last 30 years and the Ian Hunter series allows us to do this under a clear structure and celebrate the life of Laphroaigs most influential characters.
Whiskyexperts: How often do you have to check the older casks, who is doing this and how long in advance to you know when a cask is „ready“?
John Campbell: We will check all before it gets casked to ensure quality is good and then maybe 5 years out a double check and then 2 years out a further check and then when we approve then we are set for bottling program at this point.
Whiskyexperts: What, in your opinion, makes a good old Laphroaig?
John Campbell: My opinion is peaty power is the main thing Laphroaig will give to single malts and it needs to be a bourbon barrel and taste the fruit from the stills, some local warehouses influence and our floor maltings flavours in the liquid.
Whiskyexperts: What are your plans for the rest of the Laphroaig Ian Hunter series? Will the whiskies stay in app. that age range? Do you try to stick to the style set with the first edition or do you want to explore other territories as well?
John Campbell: There will be 15 releases and aged between 30-40 year old and each one will celebrate a different aspect of Ian Hunters character and legacy at the distillery… we could have had 30-40 stories he was that influential.
