A miniature bottle of Laphroaig 13 Year Old. This was distilled in July 1988, matured in a single bourbon barrel and bottled by Murray McDavid in December 2001.
This was bottled from cask number MM2108.
Laphroaig distillery was built on Islay in 1815 by brothers Alexander and Donald Johnston. In 1847, Donald, who ran the distillery day-to-day, died after falling into a vat of boiling pot ale (the labels still bore the name 'D Johnston & Co.' into the 1960s). By the 1920s, now under the ownership of Donald's great-grandson Ian Hunter, Laphroaig was being sold as a single malt and the number of stills rose to four. Hunter left the distillery to his secretary Elizabeth 'Bessie' Williamson when he died in 1954, and she became the only woman to own and run a Scottish distillery in the 20th century. By the time Bessie retired in 1972, the distillery was owned by American firm Schenley and the number of stills had increased to seven. In 1994, the distillery was awarded a Royal Warrant from HRH The Prince of Wales and Laphroaig founded its member's association - Friends of Laphroaig. As of 2014, the distillery is owned by Beam Suntory.
This lot comes from the extensive collection of a Merseyside collector who began his hobby with bottles bought for guests as digestifs at private dinner parties in the early 1970s. His interest led to him advertising in the UK national newspapers, and buying and selling bottles as far afield as Australia, America and Ireland, with his last significant addition being a collection he purchased from Stoke On Trent in 1984.
This Laphroaig 1988 13 Year Old sold at our online auction for £10
