Over a year ago I reviewed a Laphroaig I really didn’t like – The Port Wood Finished Brodir. It was the batch generally available on the market, batch 002. A friend of mine couldn’t believe I found it so bad because he liked it a lot. After a short discussion we found out where the difference in opinions came from: while I was tasting and disliking the second batch, he has a bottle of the first batch, so he generously sent me a sample to check for myself that Brodir can be good (Thanks T!).

A quick refresher: Laphroaig Brodir is Travel Retail NAS bottling, matured in Ex-bourbon casks and then is finished for unspecified time in European Oak Ex-Ruby Port casks before being bottled at 48%.

So, let’s see if the second batch I so disliked is indeed so different from the first batch or maybe it’s only a matter of personal taste.

Laphroaig Brodir Batch 001 Port Wood Finish (48%, €89,95)

Nose: First sniff and it already way better. There’s body and presence that just doesn’t exists in the 2nd batch. Soft peat smoke, sweet berries: raspberries and blueberries, kinda jammy, very well integrated. After a few minutes, stronger iodine and medicinal notes show up along with honey and salt.

Palate: Peat smoke, ashes and soot – quite oily. Sweet red berries jam, oak spices, peat smoke again but a tad crisper and sharper but still mellowed with oak, honey and a dash of salt.

Finish: Long finish with lingering peat smoke and strong berries jam sweetness, oak spices, citrus and honey.

Thoughts: Now now, this is a totally different whisky from the second batch! No wonder people loved this batch and why it was a successful hit that garnered a (failed IMHO) second batch. Definitely a bottle you should look for.