Whisky Party

Recently, I became a “Friend of Laphroaig” at the urging of my fellow Whisky Party writers.  I’m not one to usually sign up for a marketing list of a company and I don’t like being solicited for products.  This is different.  I’m happy I signed up.  You should too.  Sign up here. All you need is the upc barcode number from the back of a bottle of Laphroaig.

Friend of Laphroaig Lease

At the right is one of the things you get when you sign up to be a “Friend of Laphroaig”.  You get your own one foot by one foot piece of land on the distillery property, near the water source of Laphroaig, the Kilbride stream.  By “get” I mean you actually own it for your lifetime.  They lease you the square foot of land, and entitle you to a yearly rent.  Guess what the rent is?  A dram of Laphroaig whisky.

This is ingenious marketing.  They would be giving away drams of Laphroaig on distillery tours anyway, but this way, it’s more encouragement for people to come (like people needed more encouragement to come taste Laphroaig for free).  The lifetime lease itself is on a nice piece of vellum paper and explains the terms of rent.

Another cool part of this is that when you visit the distillery, they’ll give you a map, directions to locate your plot of land (your square foot) and stuff like wellingtons, a tape measure, an overcoat, string, and a towel so that you can visit your plot of land and be protected from any errant weather the islands throw at you.  Really, really smart.  The document is signed by the master blender, John Campbell.

John Campbell (@laphroaigwhisky on twitter) also includes a letter with the lease, welcoming you into the Friends of Laphroaig.  There are some interesting tidbits in his letter, too.  His father worked at the distillery, and John is the first native of Islay to manage Laphroaig in its 190+ year history.

The Friend of Laphroaig club boasts over 260,000 members (or plot leasers, if you will) from 150 different countries around the world.  There’s also a community on the website where people can interact, post reviews, and “build” a home on their virtual plot of land.

My Plot of Laphroaig

This marketing is wonderful.  It’s well thought out, it rewards you for purchasing their brand, draws you in to purchase more by giving you not only increased access online, but a facilitated real world relationship at the same time.  Since joining I have noticed I have purchased more bottles of Laphroaig than I usually do, and I have even shown my lease to several friends and family members.  This marketing has done what all marketing should do – it has made me into a peer to peer brand ambassador, for little more than some postage and paper.  Smart.  I feel part of the family and community of Laphroaig, and I look forward to whatever the smart people who came up with this, come up with next.

Other Blogs Posting about being a Friend of Laphroaig

• ScotchAddict gives a short quip and responds to comments about “magic smoke”
• Jungle-Bar blog talks about Quarter Cask (a favorite of the WhiskyParty Editors) and gives a satellite image of his plot from being a Friend of Laphroaig
• Vivi Capeta really displays the giddy excitement of unexpectedly getting to become a friend.
• Good Libations talks about claiming his yearly rental dram and has some great pictures and a beard of which we all should be envious.
• And just to display the many countries that are part of this, check out this blog post from Japan.  His pictures are way more artistic.  But, pretty neat that people from so many different cultures can have a unifier that reflects their similar loves and tastes.

Related posts:

1. Laphroaig Triple Wood Could Hit US in the Spring
2. NYC Scotch Tasting: Laphroaig in Brooklyn
3. New York City Scotch Tasting: Laphroaig Distillery Manager at Brandy Library