Bessie's Island Diary
The Heart of the Distillery

Our still room, with its graceful swan-necked copper stills, is the heart of the distillery where science meets age-old skills. I spend many late hours here, controlling the crucial process demanding delicacy of hand and eye. Distillation itself is quite simple - alcohol is made by heating the fermented liquid to boiling point and allowing the vapours to pass through the top of the still into a condenser to be cooled. The whole process is repeated until a pure spirit of about 70 % alcohol is produced. But here, the true art comes into play. The knowledge and experience of knowing when to save the 'cut' of the run for maturing. This new 'make' then has water added to reduce it to 63.5% alcohol before being poured into oak barrels of different sizes.

Bessie's Island Diary The sweet smoke of a peat fire The water on Islay tastes of whisky The heart of the distillery The long sleep of maturation The traditional malting floor

Copyright & Copy D. Johnston & Co., (Laphroaig), Laphroaig Distillery, Isle of Islay
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