Lagavulin is said to be one of the oldest distilleries on Islay dating back as far as 1742, consisting originally of 10 small illicit distilleries. Production can be traced back to 1816 when local farmer and distiller, John Johnston, converted the buildings into a legal distillery and named it Lagavulin, the first legal operation in the area. The distillery changed hand following the death of John, and was owned by James L Mackie & Co and then later White Horse Distillers.
To date, Lagavulin has won numerous awards, with its 16-year-old winning double gold at the San Francisco Spirits Competition in 2006 and 2008 and winning gold ever since.
