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Laphroaig Just Made a 36-Year Peated Single Malt Whisky

Laphroaig The Wall Collection Peat 0 Hero
Photo: Laphroaig

Peated whisky is more divisive than perhaps any other spirits category or sub-category. Now synonymous with the Islay region of Scotland, the smoke-forward profile is achieved through the process of burning peat — decomposed plants like moss, grass, and/or tree roots — when drying the barley during malting. Laphroaig is one of the distilleries most closely associated with the style to the point where, if any bar is going to have only one peated Scotch to satiate its fervent fans, it’s typically going to be Laphroaig’s 10 Year single malt. Well, the 208-year-old icon has just debuted its most prestigious whisky yet: a 36-year-old single malt.

The new release comes as the inaugural expression in the brand-new The Wall Collection, which is the distillery’s aim at providing rare whiskies to go along with its permanent range. Simply called Peat, the debut whisky in the series spent over three decades in oak before getting finished in a secondary, heavily peated cask. You see, the more a whisky ages, the more the initial peated notes get “lost” in the overall flavor. This cask finishing reintroduces smokiness to the whisky for a more prominent feature on the palate. Other flavors include orange peel, pineapple, honey, vanilla, custard tart, and marzipan, with peat and leather in the finish.

If you’re wondering, the name of the Wall Collection comes from the artwork on the bottle itself. Each individually hand-painted by London illustrator Laura Carlin, the bespoke vessel features the exact paint used for the outside walls of Laphroaig’s Warehouse No. 1. The bottle comes in a box and sits atop a tiered display plinth.

Bottled at 85 proof, The Wall Collection: Peat single malt will be limited to just 200 bottles, which can be obtained via a ballot system to members of the Friends of Laphroaig club and is priced at £4,500 (~$5,440).