Though whisky experts are divided on whether the spirit has a terroir like wine (flavors reminiscent of the place it was made), one sip of any whisky produced on the Scottish island of Islay is enough to suggest that, yes, indeed it does. The salty sea air and characteristic peat infuse aging casks there with a signature brininess and smokiness — and fierce sense of origin. Large-scale distilleries have inhabited the small Hebridean island since 1779, when Bowmore settled in; a new one called Gartbreck is set to open there this spring. And this year Laphroaig, arguably the smokiest of the distilleries on Islay, celebrates its 200th anniversary.

Where wine can depend on meticulously watched grapevines to capture the flavor of a region, the maltsters at Laphroaig have to “add that flavor in,” explains the distillery manager John Campbell. While vintners harvest local grapes, Laphroaig’s maltsters cut from the ground local peat, formed over thousands of years from decomposing seaweed. Campbell says this contributes a “much more earthy and medicinal” flavor to their product compared to whiskies from the Scottish mainland, which typically source peat formed instead from old trees in the Caledonian Forest. In the above video produced by the North Sea Air video team, T gets a closer look at the making of Laphroaig’s smoky spirit.

Below, meet some of Laphroaig’s present and past makers. Many of them, like Campbell, descend from those who crafted Laphroaig’s 10- and 18-year-old casks before them.