I’ll never get bored of the Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength series. I love Laphroaig and those whiskies usually deliver the Laph profile dialed up to the max. I tasted a few earlier batches (although I only published a review on Batch 7), so now it’s time to review Batch 8 and eventually I hope to catch up to the latest Batch 9 before the next edition will be released 😉

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch #008 (59.2%, $65.00)

Nose: Soft peat smoke with short lived acrid burn note (that thankfully disappeared quickly), vanilla and honey, sweet fresh cut oak, Slowly smoked cured meat rises up big time, salt. After it breathed for a few minutes there’s meat, lemon and vanilla stuffed baked pastry. This is one tasty nose. Continue reading →

Today we’re gonna look at one of the two latest Travel Retail releases from Laphroaig. The Four Oak was released in early 2017 and as the name states, it was matured in four different oak casks: Ex-bourbon barrels. Small quarter casks, virgin American oak barrels and larger European Oak hogshead.

You know the saying “too many cooks spoil the broth”? In our cask it will be: Will too many cask types spoil the whisky? Since it follows two very mediocre and similar releases (Yes, I’m looking at you Laphroaig QA and Select), I was a bit wary of this one. But maybe this time it will work better?

Laphroaig Four Oak (40%, 1 Liter, £66/€51,95)

Nose: sweet, earthy peat smoke, iodine, cereals, honey, not a strong peat reek, quite gentle but feels rounder than QA/Select. After a few minutes in the glass some greenery. cardamom, a tad farmy with metallic metallic, salt water, Lapsang Souchong tea, more sweet smoke, getting sweeter and flatter. Continue reading →

It’s my favorite Islay distillery day at Feis Ile – Laphroaig distillery. Despite some recent disappointing (or even bad) releases from Laphroaig, there are still some good official releases. Let’s go back one year and review one of them, the 2016 Cairdeas that was matured in bourbon barrels and then finished in Madeira casks.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 Madeira Cask (51.6%, $79.99)

Nose: At my first tasting of this whisky I thought it wasn’t quite well with disharmony between the peat and the fruitiness of the Madeira cask but a few weeks later it’s better with gentle peat, red grapes and red berries, a bit of zest (orange peels?) and malt. With a few drops of water sharper smoke on the front. Smoke is the star with red berries fruit  at backseat with touch of peat and medicinal notes but the water kind of transform it into a very one dimensional whisky. Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

I’ve been wary of Laphroaig Lore. In fact, I was a bit dreading to taste and review it as it’s the official replacement for Laphroaig 18 which I dearly love. I admit I was angry at Laphroaig’s decision to drop the 18 year old and bring Lore instead as I hate the on going trend of replacing a good matured whisky with a NAS expression.

Usually we don’t know much about the composition of NAS whiskies but John Campbell, the manager of Laphroaig distillery, told the world that Laphroaig Lore is a vatting of casks aged 7 up to 21 year old. But since vatting can change for future batches, I assume they went the NAS route and also because a 7 years old label doesn’t cut it for a whisky replacing a 18 year old expression ah?

So let’s go ahead and check if Lore is indeed ‘The richest of the rich’ and is a worthy replacement for the 18 year old.

Laphroaig Lore (48%, £77.95/€89,95/$109.99)

Continue reading →

Been busy in the last few days but I can’t really let the Laphroaig Open Day in Feis Ile 2016 without a post and a review. After all, if you follow me and the blog, you’re surely aware I’m very fond of Laphroaig distillery and the whiskies (at least most of them).

I decided to review today an young indie bottling with a decent price tag which you can still find online. Happy Laphroaig day!

Laphroaig Provenance 2005 8 Year Old (46%, €78.75, Cask #10406)

Nose: Soft peat smoke, rounded and surprisingly bodily and rich, cereals, soft ashes and brine. With extra time in glass it becomes much sweeter and fruity with added peaches and apricots. bonus point: the peat is stronger. Continue reading →