Scotland Whiskey Festival 2026

Port Ellen and Laphroaig Distillery

5.26.26 - 5.26.26

Our stop for the next 24 hours was in Port Ellen, home to the Port Ellen, Laphroaig, Lagavulen and Arbecgh Distilleries. The Feis Ile today was at Laphroaig.

Port Ellen is the largest town on Islay after Bowmore and is situated in a sheltered part of the island, offering views to the Oa Peninsula and to Kilnaughton Bay, which is named after the chapel ruins and burial ground at the end of the bay beside the road to the Oa peninsula. The town has several shops, hotels, restaurants and pubs and various types of accommodation. It also has Islay CyberCafe, a youth organisation; filling station with camper and car wash facilities; local Post Office that sells gifts and local crafts.

We anchored out and took a Zodiac into the pier and then the local bus to Laphroaig Distillery.

The Laphroaig distillery was established in 1815 by Donald and Alexander Johnston. The Johnstons who founded Laphroaig were from the Clan Donald and are likely to be from the MacIain of Ardnamurchan branch of the clan. The family anglicised their name to Johnston. The last member of the Johnston family to run the distillery was Ian Hunter, a nephew of Sandy Johnston, who died childless in 1954 and left the distillery to one of his managers, Bessie Williamson. The distillery was sold to Long John International, a Scottish distiller in the 1960s. In 1973, Long John International and the distillery were acquired by Whitbread. In 1989, the distillery was sold by Whitbread to become part of Allied Domecq. The brand was in turn acquired by Fortune Brands in 2005, as one of the brands divested by Pernod Ricard in order to obtain regulatory approval for its takeover of Allied Domecq. Laphroaig has been the only whisky to carry the Royal Warrant of the Prince of Wales, which was awarded in person during a visit to the distillery in 1994. The distillery identifies Charles by his title of Duke of Rothesay, as he is recognised in Scotland. The 15-year-old is reportedly then Prince and now King Charles' favourite whisky.