September 22, 2015

Three Laphroaig, from cheap to expensive

No we shan’t try the small 21 yo, and neither shall we try the new 32 yo, that may come a little later. Or not, because there are now almost thousands of new bottlings every months, so we just can’t taste them all!

Laphroaig 10 yo (40%, OB, +/-2014)

Is that possible? Last time I ‘officially’ tried a contemporary Laphroaig 10yo OB, that was in, hold on, 2006? Shame shame shame… Anyway, the 10 at 40% did not have a huge reputation at that time, while the one at 43% - so export - was gathering much more light. Let’s see… Colour: gold. Nose: oh, Islay! It really smells like when you’re approaching Port Ellen while the maltings are functioning – minus the strawberry yoghurt, perhaps. It’s certainly more smoky than both medicinal and coastal, and yeah, the main thing you get is ‘peat smoke’, in its purest form. Not really complex whisky, but it works just like Proust’s madeleine in Remembrance of Things Past. Mouth: pretty monolithic once again, but there isn’t only peat smoke this time. Some salt for sure, some lemon as well, not much antiseptic or ‘licking new bandages’, and quite some olive brine. I find it very clean, not that weak despite the low strength, and very, very quaffable. And very ‘Islay when you’re driving along… etc etc etc.’ Finish: perhaps a little short, and even abrupt. Great for a few seconds, and then, its almost the Mariana Trench. Three caudalies? Four? Comments: in case you’re wondering, one caudalie is one second of the finish of a wine or a spirit. So the longer the finish, the more caudalies there are. SGP:348 - 82 points.

Laphroaig 14 yo 2000/2014 (50%, Hunter Laing, Old Malt Cask, cask ref #10741, 357 bottles)

Colour: white wine (no caramel this time). Nose: much more brutal than the 10 OB, and that’s not just the strength. And yet I wouldn’t say there’s much happening, it’s rather alcoholous, a little medicinal indeed (mercurochrome), and a little chalky. Wet chalk. Much less smoky than the OB. With water: cancel that, the smoke comes out now, loud and clear (so to speak). This very, very ‘kilny’. Mouth (neat): no, really, there is a lot of smoke on the palate. Loads of peat smoke – wasn’t Nigel Tufnel their Distillery Manager in 2000? And drops of limoncello, plus a little rhubarb syrup, perhaps. You just swallowed cigar ashes. With water: yes, really very ashy. Plus the usual lemon and brine, but once again, not a huge medicinal side. Finish: long, sharp, ashy and salty. Another one that I’m finding pretty mezcaly, perhaps they will grow agaves on Islay with global warming, who knows. Peat-smoked Islay mezcal, doesn’t sound too bad, eh?! Comments: just like the 10 OB, it’s rather simple and pretty narrow. But what it does, it does really well. SGP:358 - 86 points.

Laphroaig 23 yo 1991/2014 (52.6%, OB, first fill sherry and refill hogsheads, 5,000 bottles)

An expensive bottling from last year that you can now find for from 300 to 500 Euros, depending of the smartness of the retailers (I won’t tell you who’s smart on the long run). Colour: gold. Nose: well, it’s not one of the complex old Laphroaigs, the style is already quite modern, even if there is, for sure, something medicinal and something earthy this time, all for the better. Green olives, seawater, perhaps even pickled gherkins, then the usual peat smoke and lemons, as well as touches of fino sherry and even vinegar (in a good way). Unless it was fino or manzanilla, the first fill sherry did not impart much, well, sherriness. With water: perhaps wet dogs (we’re sorry, dogs) and old kelp drying on a remote beach? Mouth (neat): a bit of drying oak in the arrival, which makes your tongue stick to your palate, then this very smoky, lemony and Laphroaigy development, not complex, but just very satisfying. With water: bizarrely, it does not swim too well. Takes on or two drops, but not a splash, which makes it a little ‘sawdusty’. Finish: rather long, and brinier than before. A very faint sucrosity in the aftertaste – was that the sherry? Comments: very good, just not my fav Laphroaig of all times. Perhaps just a little ‘simple’. SGP:457 - 86 points.

Check the index of all Laphroaig I've tasted so far

Pete McPeat and Jack Washback