Laphroaig has announced the appointment of George Campbell as distillery manager. An Islay native, Campbell began his whisky career more than 12 years ago as a tour guide for Laphroaig.
Campbell takes over the role from Barry MacAffer, who recently departed the distillery after 13 years at Laphroaig, leaving Islay altogether for a new role in Seoul, South Korea.
Since his first entry into whisky as a Laphroaig tour guide, Campbell has held roles at Diageo, William Grant & Sons, and most recently at Mighty Craft in Australia as operations and supply chain director.
Campbell said: “I’m honoured to be joining the team at this exciting time. Laphroaig Distillery is a special place for me and it’s the team there that inspired me to start a career in the whisky industry when I was 21. A return to join the team again as distillery manager feels like coming home in every way.”
Suntory Global Spirits, which owns Laphroaig, has established a new "operational structure" for Laphraoig and it's other Islay distillery, Bowmore. Two new Islay assistant distillery managers will work flexibly across both distillieries, supporting Campbell and Bowmore distillery manager David Turner.
Jonathan Fletcher and Emma Boyle have been appointed as the Islay assistant distillery managers. Fletcher has been assistant manager at Bowmore since 2014, while Boyle joined Laphroaig in 2005 as a tour guide, has been its visitor centre manager, and most recently held the role of production supervisor.
