Welcome To Laphroaig
A VR Tour for Laphroaig
The Challenge
Working with White Label, East City Films were tasked with creating a VR and 360 video tour of the beautiful Laphroaig distillery on the island of Islay.
A Filmic Experience
Laphroaig’s parent company Beam Suntory were keen for this experience to capture the whisky making process in a poetic and filmic manner. Most importantly, they wanted to give people the chance to visit the distillery without having to travel to Scotland. Furthermore the VR would show people the majesty of the island and the authenticity of the process and hopefully encourage them to make the pilgrimage for real or buy a dram when next in the pub.
The Real Laphroaig
So, with Islay's natural peat fields, fresh water stream and rugged coastline contributing so much to the distinctive flavour of Laphroaig, East City Films took to the skies to give people an unrivalled view. In the distillery itself we used sophisticated wire cam technology and remote controlled dollies to achieve the movement that drives the film. As a result we believe we've created a VR experience which gives an unrivalled tour of the distillery and will live long in the memory.
“We had the pleasure of working with East City this year for our Laphroaig VR tour of Islay. Darren, Ash and their team fused creativity and knowledge to great effect and ensured that we delivered a result that felt ahead of the game in VR terms.”
Success
The experience is now live on the Laphroaig website as a 360 video free to be explored by anyone with a computer or a phone. It is also in the hands of the Laphroaig ambassadors who will be showing the film in VR headsets at whisky shows and industry events in the US, China and Japan. Nominated for Best Branded VR Experience, the film will also play in competition at the Raindance Film Festival showing how we delivered on the brand’s filmic ambition. In 2020 the experience was used at London Cocktail Week at Oriole in Smithfield, providing a fresh airing of the tour at a time when travelling to Islay was nigh on impossible due to the global pandemic. Also in 2020 the Spirit Business named the VR tour as one of the 10 best virtual whisky tours in the business.
To see more of our work with whisky brands click here.