Strong Characters is a new series of highly-aged, limited edition Laphroaig whiskies. Each chapter tells the story of a defining character in the distillery’s remarkable history. The first release celebrates Laphroaig’s pioneering co-founder Donald Johnston, who built the distillery with his brother in 1815.
Several previous histories of Laphroaig have been written, often with conflicting entries. We needed the definitive version, and turned to Dr Nick Morgan for help. Having written several books on the whisky, including the excellent history of Johnnie Walker, “A Long Stride” he was well placed to piece together an accurate narrative from an archive of historical censuses, tax returns and old newspaper articles.
To illustrate the stories we commissioned Bill Bragg, who's bold yet elegant drawings perfectly capture the feeling of Islay in the early 1800s, and create remarkable depth using only the black and white palette of Laphroaig
Donald’s life story is told in a small book, included within an illustrated presentation case. The case exterior begins the story, with the two brothers first setting eyes on the farmland that would eventually become the distillery. The bottle itself, containing a 33-year-old Laphroaig, is given over to a full-body label illustration of Donald’s grisly end, showing the moment just before he fell into a mash tun and died. The perfect cliffhanger to conclude the first chapter.