Each year our Distillery Manager, John Campbell, crafts a limited edition malt to celebrate the friends of Laphroaig and friendship (“Càirdeas” in Gaelic) in general. Càirdeas 2020 is a marriage of our distinctive single malt Scotch aged in two different types of wood. While some matures in our typical way, in charred ex-Bourbon barrels, the rest is poured into second fill ruby Port barriques. Both are blended together to finish their maturation in red wine casks. This particular aging method lends honeyed sweetness, dark chocolate richness and pink peppercorn spice to the signature Laphroaig taste of medicinal smoke and ocean salt. Here's to friendship.

Celebrating the idea of coming together, Laphroaig Càirdeas marries two expressions of our single malt Scotch whisky. Part is aged in our time-honored way, using ex-Bourbon barrels that have been charred to impart notes of toasty vanilla. The rest is poured into ruby Port barriques, where it picks up hints of the dessert wine's jammy flavors. After maturation, the spirits are blended together and finished in red wine casks for a final hit of fruit flavor.

The Laphroaig Distillery has been winning friends all over the world since 1815, when it first opened its doors on the rugged isle of Islay — just off Scotland's west coast. The natural features of the island lend themselves well to whisky making. Our malt is toasted over fires fueled by peat from the island's bogs, and it's then mixed with the crisp and clear water from the Kilbride stream before distillation. This, alongside the passion of generations of master distillers, is what makes Laphroaig so unforgettable.