Laphroaig 1975 Gentle Noses 34 Year Old / Kick Up a Row in Germania Part 2

This was bottled by Lars-Goran Wiebers, aka "Jack." He is the proprietor of the renowned Jack Wiebers Whisky World retailer in Germany, established in 1996. Since then has released a number of respected independent bottlings under labels such as the Old Train Line, Gentle Noses, The Cross Hill and Auld Distillers Alliance.

The Gentle Noses label was introduced in 2004 and is based on the story of rival families in China called Lee and Foo, who apparently quarelled over who has the better nose. The series pits Jack Wiebers fictional Jack Lee against Jumping Foo in a serie of competitions to sniff out the finest whisky. Each bottle is labelled over the capsule as the selection of one or the other.

This Laphroaig is part two of the Kick Up a Row in Germania (Stunk in Germanien) series. A 1975 vintage, it was bottled from a bourbon cask in 2010.

Laphroaig is the largest of the three heavyweight Islay distilleries in Kildalton, out-stripping the production capacity of neighbours, Ardbeg and Lagavulin, by over 1 million litres per annum. Despite its traditional appearance, Laphroaig was always a forward-thinking distillery. It was bottled as a single malt as early as the 1920s, an unfashionable option at the time, especially for a peated whisky. They were also shrewd in capitalising on post-Prohibition America to add trademark sweetness to their spirit through the use of imported ex-bourbon casks, and hired Scotland’s first ever female distillery manager, Bessie Williamson, in 1954. Laphroaig is one of only a handful of distilleries in Scotland to still use in-house maltings, providing them with 20% of their annual requirements, and contributing to the distillery’s unique flavour profile.