The label of the next Laphroaig Càirdeas has been revealed: it will be called Tequila Cask Finish and will be bottled at 52.7%. This is the edition the distillery dedicates every year to the Friends of Laphroaig and unveils during Fèis Ìle, so we will see it at the 2027 festival.

Release details

The label reveals a finish in casks that held tequila. The flavour profile given by the distillery reads “cut grass, mint, spicy smoke”, with the promise of a fresh character: wording far from Laphroaig’s usual register.

52.7% keeps the line of recent releases in the series: the 2026 Càirdeas, matured entirely in French oak, was 52.6%; before that came Lore Cask Strength in 2025 and Cask Favourites in 2024.

The second Islay tequila finish in two years

The precedent is very recent. For Fèis Ìle 2026 Caol Ila bottled an 11 year old finished in Don Julio casks, the first tequila finish in its history. Two Islay distilleries owned by different groups, Diageo and Suntory, reaching for the same kind of cask a year apart says how common tequila is becoming as a finish.

For anyone who knows the Laphroaig distillery the novelty is twofold: the Càirdeas series has already used port, madeira, sherry and French oak, but never a cask from an agave spirit. How that sits with the peat is still to be judged in the glass.

The unveiling should come during Fèis Ìle 2027, where Laphroaig Day falls on Tuesday 1 June. Club members usually get priority access to the Càirdeas before general distribution, so anyone who wants a bottle should watch what the Friends of Laphroaig send out in the months before.