Thanks for the posting asking how I became a Brewer at Laphroaig. I am very lucky in that my family can trace their direct line of distillers to the late 1700s or even earlier (counting illegal as well as legal!) My Great Great Great Grandfather was a Jame MacGregor, who in about 1810 left the area of Tomintoul in the Cairngorm Mountains and went to Cromdale, a small hamlet near Grantown on Spey. There the brithers started farming at a farm (in the Cromdale hills) called Balmenach. According to various records of the era a visiting "Gauger" or Customs officer advised james to take out a Distilling Licence on his Peat Shed ! In 1824 James MacGregor was one of the first to license his Distillery under the Spirit Act of 1823. [ The "doubtful" honour of being the first is claimed by J & G Smith of Glenlivet :-)) ] The MacGregor Family continued running the Distillery until about 1923 when financial cash flow problems necessitated the selling of the Distillery to the Distillers Company and they continued production until 1993, when it was finally closed. For myself I was brought up partly by my Grandmother who herself had been brought up on the Distillery and she instilled in me a deep love of Malt whisky from a very early age (About 7 years old ). I first trained , and qualified as a beer brewer, passing the equivalent of a degree in brewing. After working making different ales and lagers for about 10 years I responded to an advertisement for a brewer at Tomatin Distillery which is 15 miles south of Inverness at 1028 feet above sea level (making it one of the higest Distilleries in Scotland). i was there for 13 years and then transferred here to Islay as Brewer at both Laphroaig and Ardbeg Distilleries. Ardbeg is now for sale and at present I am working primarily at Laphroaig. I hope this answers some of your questions and you will see why I have not posted this reply on the Laphoaig web page. I hope you carry on enjoying Laphroaig and are able to join the Friends of Laphroaig and come and visit us soon. With reference to my favourite whiskies it depends on my mood, the time of day, and the food I have eaten. I consider that one of the advantages Malt Scotch Whisky has over any other spirit drink is that there is such a wide range of flavours almost anybody can find a malt whisky that suits their palate - after all we are all individuals and have our own perception of taste so we must choose that which we enjoy the most. My own favourites are about 10 varying from the lowland Bladnoch which I class as a "Breakfast" whisky that I enjoy before lunch when my palate is clean and fresh and I can appreciate the subtle light flavours that are present in the whisky. there are other Lowland and Speyside Whiskies, finishing up with the "2.00 in the Morning" heavies such as Laphroaig and Ardbeg that I enjoy at almost all times !! enjoy your drams and have a good time at Hogmanay Slainthe Ian Hallam