One is a man who disappears into every role he takes. The other is a whisky that makes absolutely no attempt to disappear at all. Somehow, Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe make perfect sense, and today they have taken their partnership to the next level.
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READ THE STORYFollowing on from the launch of a collaborative marketing campaign in 2025, Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe have launched a limited edition single malt Scotch whisky, named Willem by Willem. The whisky comes accompanied by a typically Laphroaig/Dafoe style twist.
Here is everything you need to know about the whisky, the campaign, and how Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe’s friendship is encouraging exploration.
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1. The ‘Willem by Willem’ whisky is finished in Oloroso sherry casks
Laphroaig is defined by its unapologetic peat. The kind that brings medicinal, iodine-laced, coastal smoke that you either love immediately or come around to eventually. That character is built on a foundation of ex-bourbon maturation, which accounts for the majority of the casks used at the distillery.
But Laphroaig has long understood that the story doesn’t have to end there. From the Quarter Cask to the PX Cask to the 10 Year Old Sherry Oak, additional wood finishing is woven throughout the range, used not to soften or disguise the distillery’s character, but to deepen it.
Willem by Willem follows that same philosophy. The 14-year-old single malt is finished in Oloroso sherry casks, where the richness of the dried fruit and the density of the wood meet Laphroaig’s smoke head-on.
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Laphroaig’s popular 10 Year Old Sherry Oak Finish is also finished in Oloroso sherry casks, with the resulting whisky rich with peat smoke, leather, maple syrup, pine needles, nuttiness, and salty brine. The peaty, full-bodied profile of Laphroaig is still present, but the sherry influence adds a wealth of layers to explore.
This flavour profile offers a glimpse of how the sherry casks work with Laphroaig’s smoky spirit, and many Laphroaig fans will be eager to see how an additional four years of maturation will impact the profile.
The whisky is bottled at 53.7% ABV and has an RRP of £139 / $156. Friends of Laphroaig will have access to a pre-release ballot from today until Tuesday, April 28.
Subsequently, the whisky will launch on May 1 in the United Kingdom, with further markets (US, Germany, Japan, and Australia) to follow in the coming months.
2. Laphroaig wants you to provide the tasting notes
Laphroaig did not provide any tasting notes for Willem by Willem in the official press release. Instead, they have issued a challenge…and an opportunity.
Laphroaig is asking fans to provide their own tasting notes for Willem by Willem. Drinkers should submit their tasting notes to Laphroaig in some form of creative medium, such as poetry, film, sketches, or song.
Whoever showcases the “boldest and most original character” in their chosen medium will be given the opportunity to star alongside Dafoe in his next Laphroaig short film. The film is set to be shot later in 2026.
Speaking about the competition, and the subjectivity of whisky, Senior Whisky Maker Sarah Dowling said: “Our experience with whisky is so personal, from how we drink it – whether neat, with water or in a cocktail – to the different opinions about its taste.
“It was important to Willem and me that we selected a rich and complex spirit, unmistakably Laphroaig, but which allowed people to interpret and enjoy it in their own way. The whisky speaks for itself, and I look forward to hearing what it is saying to people around the world.”
Willem Dafoe also encouraged fans to get involved, saying: “For me, when I sip ‘Willem by Willem’ I experience…you tell me. For all who drink it, I hope the whisky will inspire discussion.”
3. Willem Dafoe selected the whisky alongside Laphroaig’s Senior Whisky Maker, Sarah Dowling
For this anticipated limited edition, Sarah Dowling and Willem Dafoe put their heads (and taste buds) together to select the final whisky. Just like with their challenge to drinkers, Willem and Sarah allowed themselves to be led by curiosity rather than tasting notes.
Dafoe said in a press release, “I made my final choice based on the whisky that evoked the most curiosity about its taste – something I still can’t put my finger on, but that’s half the fun.”
As a result, Laphroaig promises that fans can “expect the unexpected when it comes to the tasting notes and flavour profiles.” A creative expression of the unexpected is exactly what they want to see from fans taking part in the tasting notes challenge.
It also reinforces what Laphroaig and Dafoe led with in their initial collaboration in September 2025.
4. Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe first teamed up in September 2025
The ongoing partnership between Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe was first announced in September 2025. Dafoe appeared in a marketing film in which he attempts to put into words what he experiences when he noses and drinks Laphroaig. Dafoe also reads out descriptions submitted by Laphroaig fans of their tasting experiences.
The film neatly highlights the different ways in which drinkers experience Laphroaig, with one fan describing the profile as “a storm in a tea cup,” and another as “a volcano in a bottle.”
It is precisely these different descriptions and encounters that Laphroaig wants to hear about when fans are able to taste Willem by Willem.
In the film, Dafoe reads out these descriptions with his characteristic dramatic flair and exciting unpredictably, traits that make his partnership with Laphroaig feel serendipitous.
As Chris Richardson, Managing Director of Suntory Global Spirits, Scotch and Irish, said upon the launch of the campaign: “Willem Dafoe is bold, curious, and impossible to define, much like Laphroaig itself.
“His uncompromising dedication to craft mirrors our own approach to whisky making. He is the ideal partner to bring to life the intense, unmistakable, and truly ‘unphorgettable’ flavour of Laphroaig, and to celebrate those around the world with character as distinctive as his.”
5. The campaign included renaming a London pub and crafting a signature cocktail
Expanding the collaboration out from the rocky shores of Islay, Laphroaig and Willem Dafoe took their collaboration to London, with iconic Mayfair pub, The Barley Mow, temporarily being renamed The Barley Dafoe.
The playful name change was accompanied by a signature cocktail, crafted by renowned mixologist Meaghan Dorman. The cocktail is inspired by the wild ruggedness of Islay and the sunny luxury of Italy, the country that Dafoe calls home. It was available at The Barley Dafoe for a limited time, but remains part of the wider ‘Unphorgettable’ campaign.
Laphroaig has published the full recipe so that you can make the cocktail at home.
Ingredients
- 45ml Laphroaig 10 Year Old
- 30ml pressed pineapple juice
- 15ml fresh lemon juice
- 10ml cinnamon syrup
- 5ml Amaro Ciociaro
Method
- Fill a shaker with ice and add ingredients
- Shake vigorously
- Double strain into a coupette glass
- Top with prosecco (optional)
Laphroaig’s ‘Unphorgettable’ Partnership with Willem Dafoe
What makes this partnership land is what it asks of the people drinking it. Rather than handing consumers a glossy set of tasting notes to nod along to, Laphroaig and Dafoe have thrown the floor open, inviting drinkers to submit their own. It’s a bold move for any whisky brand. For one whose flavour profile is as divisive as Laphroaig’s, it’s almost provocative.
But that’s rather the point. Laphroaig has never courted universal approval, and Dafoe has never courted the expected. Both have built their reputations on committing fully to the character, to the craft, and to the bit without hedging for a safer reaction.
Asking consumers to articulate what they taste, without being steered, is an extension of that same confidence: a trust in the whisky to speak for itself, and in the drinker to have something worth saying back.
In a category where celebrity partnerships can sometimes feel like little more than a famous face on a label, Willem by Willem feels like a genuine meeting of minds, or at least, of sensibilities. Uncompromising, a little unpredictable, and eager.
