Laphroaig proudly markets itself as the most richly flavoured of all Scotch whiskies. It produces a heavily peated spirit famously bursting with aggressive notes of iodine, seaweed, medicinal lozenges and sweet vanilla. This highly distinctive profile is the result of several unique production methods. Laphroaig is one of the rare distilleries that still operates its own traditional floor maltings, which provides around 20 percent of their total barley requirements. They cold smoke their barley using incredibly tarry, coastal Islay peat. Furthermore, the distillery operates a highly unusual, uneven still setup featuring three wash stills and four spirit stills. The wash stills have unusually tall, conical necks, while the spirit stills feature tight constrictions that aggressively force the vapour to interact with the copper. After this complex distillation, the spirit is predominantly matured in first fill American oak ex bourbon barrels, a practice pioneered by Bessie Williamson, which imparts that crucial underlying sweet vanilla to balance the heavy medicinal smoke.