Jordan Paisley - Lagavulin Distillery Manager

Meet Jordan Paisley, the Distillery Manager for Lagavulin

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round 1816, a local farmer and distiller named John Johnston is reported to have converted buildings into a licenced distillery and named it Lagavulin (pronounced lagga-voo-lin), the area's first legal venture, which is the now-owned Diageo distillery.

So, whether you like it or not, there's simply no denying that Lagavulin is one of the most iconic single malt distilleries in Scotland's southern Islay (pronounced eye-la) region. The heavily peated spirit is a popular choice among whisky drinkers because of its memorable peat smoke flavour.

Read on to learn more about Lagavulin in an exclusive Q&A with Jordan Paisley, the distillery's newly appointed Distillery Manager.

What attracted you to the position of Lagavulin Distillery Manager?

I grew up surrounded by the whisky industry and I knew I wanted to be part of what made people from all around the world travel to my little home island. Lagavulin is such an important site and brand for the whisky industry and, to me, it’s even more special as I call Islay my childhood home – it’s a true privilege and honour to say that I’m the Lagavulin Distillery Manager.

How many people are currently working at the distillery?

We have 7 Operators and 1 warehouse man on site – they work on a shift rota to run the production to ensure we’re making Lagavulin liquid 24/7. We also have a Brand Home (Visitor Centre) with 15 staff who provide exceptional tours and experiences for our visitors.

Can you tell me about the Washbacks, Spirit Stills and Wash Stills used?

We use wooden washbacks at Lagavulin and we follow a 55-hour fermentation process. Our stills are shorter compared to some distilleries on Islay as we want a different character or definition to our new make spirit. We have a downwards leaning Lye arm to retain as much smoke flavour we can and not work that vapour too hard, we give it a very easy time of about 10.5 hours in our spirit stills.

Can you talk me through the processes that Lagavulin uses to get the iconic and smoky Islay flavours?

One of the main flavours comes from smoking our malt over peat smoke creating that intense Islay smokiness everyone falls in love with. Our Peat is sourced here on Islay on a site called ‘Castle Hill’, not too far from the distillery. By having shorter dumpier stills we retain as much of that peat smoke as we can by making sure our vapours don’t have a long way to travel which would loose that smoke intensity.

Do you work with Lagavulin Master Blenders and how much influence do you have on the Research & Development of new and future bottlings?

I’m new to the role, but have been speaking with the Master Blenders about ideas for the future. We have a very talented team that ensure we continue to produce the same iconic spirit but are also able to release some different finishes, such as the 11 Year Old Offerman Guinness finish and the 13 Year Old Jazz Bottling finished in mezcal. I’m sure we will have more releases to excite Lagavulin fans in the future.

What do you love about your job and are there any perks?

I just recently got to take part in Fèis Ìle and that was a fantastic experience and something that was totally different this year as I usually attend the day as a fan, so to be sitting and chatting with people from all over the world was extremely special. One of the best perks is that I’m allowed to sample lots of different Lagavulin drams!

Do you have a favourite bottle of Lagavulin and why?

I have to say it’s Lagavulin 16 Year Old – I have enjoy that dram at many special occasions during my life so whenever I have it now, whether at home or in the pub with friends & family, it transports me back to those extra special occasions!

What can we expect when visiting the distillery?

Lagavulin is packed with history as well as good drams! From when you walk in the front door of the Brand home (which is the old original Malt floors) to the stunning scenery down at our iconic warehouse and pier. Expect Smokey drams and smiley faces when visiting!

I want to express my gratitude to Jordan for his time and for allowing me to learn more about his fascinating role with the Lagavulin distillery.

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