Last night we had our monthly local whisky club meeting which focused on Laphroaig whiskies. But in truth it was a tasting night centered around a bottle of Laphroaig 30 Year Old bottle we managed to get. But tasting only the 30 yo somewhat felt wrong and so we brought along some young and cheaper siblings as appetizers, among them the 1815 Legacy Edition which I didn’t get to review here yet and so it will be the subject of our review today.

Laphroaig The 1815 Legacy Edition was released in April 2017 to Travel Retail market but like many TR exclusives ,it’s now available in many retail shops. It was aged in first-fill bourbon barrels and new European oak hogsheads and bottled at 48%.

Laphroaig The 1815 Legacy Edition (48%, £78.50/80,90€)

Nose: Soft and sweeter nose, especially when compared to the 10 yo and Four Oak. Feels ‘richer’, a bit of luxury feeling, with sweet fruit, both from the first fill bourbon and the other casks: red apples and strawberry Vs. pears and honey. After a few minutes some subtle ashes shows up along with iodine and salted meat.

Palate: Here the peat side is stronger with signature Laphroaig peat , smoke and ashes. pears, salt, gentle oak spices, sweet honey and some fruitiness but it’s far less ‘rich’ than the nose with the bourbon casks being more dominant here.

Finish: Lingering sweet honeyed fruits, peat smoke, dry with oak spices.

Thoughts: The 1815 is somewhat similar to Lore, albeit positioned a level below in price and taste profile with more bourbon impact and less luxury feeling. Just like with the Lore the nose on the 1815 is better than the offering on the palate but it’s a decent enough dram. However, I felt that the decency of this dram came along with a feeling of boredom. It feels a bit over-engineered and a result of careful construction and I think that somewhere along the way it lost some soul and vibrancy.

(Tasted at MMI Club meeting)