Collaborations work best when they involve two distinct individuals whose very uniqueness in the world is the reason why they pair so well together. Back in the early 1980s, many may have assumed that the musical styles of Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson would be too wildly different to each other. But as “Say Say Say” proved, these collaborations work because of this individuality, not in spite of it. What’s the point in a collaboration if the two individuals are almost carbon copies of each other, both with the same skill sets?
It is this sharing of clear individuality that elevates the partnership between Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe and Laphroaig Distillery — a creative alliance and collaboration that has now culminated in the release of new whisky Willem by Willem. The synergy between the actor and the distillery relies heavily on their distinctive reputations. Laphroaig is famous for its medicinal, heavily peated profile. Whisky lovers know when a Laphroaig is sat in front of them even without being told outright.
Dafoe, meanwhile, is celebrated for choosing intense, complex roles that defy easy categorisation. He may play both a vampire hunter in Nosferatu and a monster himself in Shadow of the Vampire, but each comes with that confident, quirky trademark.
Dafoe, like Laphroaig, is a highly acclaimed, instantly recognisable pillar of his industry. Despite four Oscar nominations dating back to 1987, Dafoe has yet to receive the coveted award, but this has catapulted his status to recent years as one of the world’s most overdue actors. It’s surely only a matter of time before the Wisconsin-born actor holds the golden statue in his hands, but in the meantime, a bottle of Laphroaig is a more-than-worthy replacement.
The Dafoe-Laphroaig collaboration launched in September 2025 with the ‘Unphorgettable’ campaign, which included a short film titled ‘The Taste’, directed by Tim Pope. The short followed Dafoe’s attempt to find the words to describe Laphroaig’s whisky, drawing on personal experience. He also reads descriptions of the whisky submitted by the Friends of Laphroaig, connecting the campaign to its original intended vision.
“The first time I ever travelled overseas, I went to Scotland,” said Dafoe, back at the beginning of this partnership. “I was a kid, and the first thing I thought when my feet touched down on the ground was, something feels familiar here. I feel at home. The land spoke to me, and it must be genetic because my grandmother was from Glasgow. ‘The Taste’ depicts that sort of familiarity that’s found when exploring Laphroaig. It’s the flavours and how they come together.”
What began as a global creative and marketing campaign has transformed into a hands-on liquid collaboration. Senior whisky blender Sarah Dowling first joined Laphroaig in February 2024. Working with the wider blending team in Springburn, she’s responsible for assessing casks as they mature, maintaining the character of Laphroaig releases, and looking for continuously innovation. If Dafoe is the face of this collaboration, Dowling is the whisky genius behind it, with the most impressive whisky knowledge that becomes apparent even just a few minutes into conversation. “I’ve been a fan of Willem’s for years,” says Dowling, “so when I think of Willem and I think of his movies, he’s always bold, he’s always curious, always impossible to define. I think that’s quite similar to how Laphroaig turns up in the world.”
The production of Willem by Willem was not a stereotypical celebrity endorsement, where their name and face is simply put on the box. Instead, it involved an immersive, year-long journey through the warehouse and blending lab. Dowling witnessed this dedication firsthand. “I got to attend the shoot when he filmed The Taste,” says Dowling. “I got to just appreciate him, in his creative zone, his uncompromising dedication to his craft.”
This creative dedication directly influenced the blending process. The team at Laphroaig, including Dowling and master blender Calum Fraser, spent months preparing for the joint tasting session, meticulously narrowing down the possibilities. “We had done around 20 pilot blends before we met with him and then narrowed it down to six that told a story we wanted to tell,” Dowling explains. “They were all great and we were playing with different levels of smoke, different finishes, different ages.”
When it came time to evaluate the final six options, the standard vocabulary of the whisky industry was intentionally set aside. Instead, the focus shifted toward how the liquid interacted with the senses on a visceral, deeper level.
“Willem and I selected the whisky together. We didn’t really focus on tasting notes when we were working together. We focused on the experience, and what samples made him the most curious and what taste did he resonate most with.”
During the selection process, one specific profile immediately stood out to the actor. Dowling recalls the moment the choice became clear. “Willem then chose his favourite... that was oloroso, the one that really spoke to him the most. He was talking about how it felt in his face and talking about it at that level of emotion.”
Following the initial selection, Dowling returned to the Islay blending lab to scale the expression, carefully monitoring its development while keeping Dafoe regularly involved throughout the maturation.
“What I loved about the journey was I met him quite a few times at different things throughout the year, and I was always talking — so this is the base spirit sample and he was loving trying that. And then a couple of months, in the cask and then at a few more months. So it really did feel like a collaboration.”
The resulting bottling is a 14-year-old age statement and presented at a robust cask strength of 53.7% ABV. Rather than publishing an official set of descriptors, Laphroaig has launched Willem by Willem with a blank tasting note page. For Dowling, this allows consumers to taste the whisky without any preconceptions. “Everyone’s tasting notes are valid, right? Because your tasting notes are how you experience the world and what your lived experience to this point is. If you’re the blender in the room, and you say lemon, everyone’s going to smell lemon. So just create a nice environment that people feel like nothing’s out there... And then almost go on a journey together with it.”
Now available, Willem by Willem serves as an invitation to explore flavour without preconceived boundaries. The combination of one of Islay’s most historic spirits with the creative curiosity of one of Hollywood’s truly iconic actors was already going to be a winning collaboration before the work had even been done. Perhaps when Dafoe finally — eventually — wins the Academy Award he deserves, everyone shall raise a glass of Laphroaig in celebration.
Willem by Willem tasting notes
Nose: Dried fruits, walnuts, hazelnut, tobacco smoke, leather, jasmine green tea, lemon zest.
Palate: Sultanas, sticky toffee pudding, cherry, mint, lavender, peat. Rich, velvet mouthfeel.
Finish: Medium-length finish with raisins and floral notes.
