A few Laphroaig, again


November 3, 2016

A few Laphroaig, again

Only 359 Laphroaigs so far on little Whiskyfun. Not quite the leader anymore, I think Bowmore is at 411 and HP at 374! Some catching-up to do, perhaps…
PS: yeah and Caol Ila at 459 (thanks Igor).

Lp7 (52.8%, Specialty Drinks, Elements of Islay, 2016, 50cl)

Indeed, we have no proof whatsoever that this is Laphroaig, but we know that the bottlers’ mind is clean, and that this couldn’t be some, say, some Lagavulin Palo. Colour: pale gold. Nose: ultra-very simple. Laphroaig and rather active oak. So peat, antiseptic, seawater, and ginger. I’m all for Japanese-Finnish minimalism, but we may be touching the limits of malty simplicity. Let’s see… With water: peat. Really very minimal. Mouth (neat): elementary indeed. The problem is that while there aren’t many different flavours in this wee ‘phroaig, what it does, it does it to perfection. Lemon juice, seawater, smoked water. You know the stuff they use on supermarket so-called ‘smoked’ fish or charcuterie. With water: more sweetness. Sweet apricots? Something reminds me of the peatiest Ardmores. Finish: indeed. Smoked almonds, ashes, and limoncello. Marzipan galore in the aftertaste. Comments: millimetric spirit, so much for imperial measures. I so hate it that I like such a simple malt whisky so much! SGP:458 - 89 points.

Laphroaig 19 yo 1995/2015 (46%, High Spirits, Life is a circus)

The ever elegant and true pioneer of whisky Nadi Fiori, of Intertrade fame, keeps bottling some wonders every once in a while. Let’s check this newish one… Oh and Nadi, assuming life is a circus indeed, let’s hope it’s a circus maximus! Colour: white wine. Nose: smoked almonds and burnt papers at first sniffings, then the most subtle combination of medicinal aromas with kind-of-smoked-vegetables. Salsify? Wee artichokes? Some green pepper for sure, a little greenish ginger, Fernet-Branca… Mouth: excellentissimo, smoother than modern Laphroaigs, so rather leaning towards the great old ones, with some smoked fish, smoked almonds, and some dry citrus fruits. Forgot to mention oysters. Finish: medium for Laphroaig, but oh-so elegant. Smoked fish, lemon, and drops of maraschino. Wonderful dry aftertaste, bordering Château-Chalon quality. Comments: Laphroaig rather à l’ancienne, still one of the complex vintages. SGP:567 - 90 points.

Laphroaig 17 yo 1998 (52.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, cask #122010, 287 bottles)

Laphroaig 17 yo 1998/2016 (52.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, cask #122010, 287 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: tobacco, leather, gingerbread, and bags and bags of nutmeg. Where does all this nutmeg come from? May we meet the cask? With water: I’ll tell it like I feel it, this is an official bottling done by some indies. Wood up, spirit down. Mouth (neat): bold and big, dominant, on sweet lemon, ginger-and-nutmeg, and all the usual smoked/medicinal areopagus. Thick mouth feel. With water: really, it feels official. Lemon, wood spices, burnt bread, wood smoke, mercurochrome. Finish: same, for a rather long time. Comments: I do not know what to think. Love everything, the people, the distillery, and even this wee Laphroaig. It’s just lacking… magic. Feels industrial, which is totally surprising. Or is it me? To think that I enjoyed the much younger (in theory) Lp7 so much better! SGP:557 - 80 points.

Laphroaig 18 yo 1997/2016 (XX%, Berry Bros for LMdW’s 60th anniversary)

Laphroaig 18 yo 1997/2016 (52.2%, Berry Bros for LMdW’s 60th anniversary)

**** them. Some friends said this baby was the best Scotch whisky of Whisky Live Paris 2016. **** them! Good, I used to agree, but I only tried it ‘casually’, until today. Time to get more official. ****** ****! Colour: straw. Nose: some kind of Nepalese specialty. Butter and smoked and burnt herbs, plus lemongrass and burning coal. Plus geranium flowers. Oh *** ***! With water: I mean, ****! Eucalyptus wood smoke, a night in Courchevel, and a day on Islay. I mean, on Islay, not just at the ******* distilleries. Mouth (neat): immaculate, pristine, chiselled by Michelangelo himself, peaty/smoky/salty Laphroaigness. This is Laphroaig for ******* purists. Count me in. With water: when almonds come in, we’re up for a treat. One of the best kind-of-recent ******* Laphroaigs I could try. Finish: lace and whisky. Hold on, wasn’t that an Alice Cooper LP? And one of the badder ones? Comments: I’ve heard that they’ve hired staff from Patek Philiipe to distil and mature this. No, seriously, I’ve seen that on Weibo, so must be true. Oh **** them all. SGP:357 - 92 points.

Is it reasonable to go on?...

Laphroaig 16 yo 1999/2016 ‘An apothecary shop on the shore’ (52.3%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #29.180

Laphroaig 16 yo 1999/2016 ‘An apothecary shop on the shore’ (52.3%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #29.180, 264 bottles)

I’ve heard the god people at the honourable SMWS were smoking the same cigarettes as those of Wemyss. Colour: white wine. Nose: it is more on grass and wood smoke than on peat smoke, and I find it rather oak-driven, with butter and vanilla touches. Isn’t it a little shy? It’s getting hard after the f***tastic BBR… With water: not many changes. Metallic almonds? Mouth (neat): still simple, but more assertive, easy/sweet, and then very medicinal. Ashes, lemon, ashes, lemon, ashes, lemon… and cough syrup. Pepper and chillies in the background. With water: no quibbles, this is very good, especially since some tropical fruits are coming out. Sweeter oranges? Also gingery spices. Finish: long, with more spices from the wood. Saltier aftertaste. Comments: tastes rather ‘official’. Perhaps a wee tad, say, hollow? Modern? SGP:467 - 85 points.

Good, shall we allow Cadenhead to have their say? You know, those despicable Campbeltowners that are (almost) singlehandedly managing to keep the whole category afloat? And to appeal to the (very) few enthusiast that are seeking honesty (ouch), transparency (utter horror), fairness (that’s for fairy tales, mate), authenticity (what?) and, well, truthness. Yeah I know that word doesn’t quite exist…

Laphroaig 18 yo 1998/2016 (55.9%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 204 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: well, it has a few pencil shavings at first nosing, then brine and smoked oils. Sesame? Then embrocations, Vicks VapoRub, seawater, and green olives. Green olives work in any spirit, and by the way, I’m planning to rechristen this terrible website as ‘greenolivefun.com’. With water: ooh! Those wet dogs (how much do we owe you, dogs?) and these woolly scents… Old floor cloth? Mouth (neat): terribly good, disappointingly unusual (caraway and aniseed in Laphroaig?) and incorrectly vegetal. Someone may have added gherkins to the mash. All that gives this little Laphroaig a mezcaly side that we can only applaud. Hey hombre! With water: impressed. Gherkin brine, limejuice, kippers, ashes, repeat. Finish: long and angular. That’s enough. Comments: pub whisky, as Dr Feelgood used to play pub rock. The saltiness is immense and almost philosophical… salt of life… SGP:358 - 91 points.

(Doug, Greg, Mark, Paul, ***** you all!)

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