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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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December 22, 2022 |
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The Time Warp Sessions,
today a Trio of Laphroaig |
Only proper Laphroaigs bearing the name Laphroaig on them, and no 'secret Islays' this time, not even any of those many fabulous indie 1989-1991s that would crush many officials anyway. We'll try those separately, later… Anyway, first a recent young one, then a recent old one, then an old 10 because we have the feeling that, err, we'll see… |
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Laphroaig 10 yo 'Original Cask Strength Batch 15' (56.5%, OB, Dec 2021) 
We do not follow all batches, all I'll say is that I've kept one of those early 1-litre 'green stripe' versions stashed away. I agree, not the same paradigm, having said that I thought last year's batch 14 had been very good (WF 86)… Colour: gold. Nose: perhaps a little too much wood smoke at first, too many wood spices too, but the rest seems to be rather perfect, salty, medicinal, in short Laphroaig. With water: paint! Then engine grease and tarmac, and of course those old tarry ropes found on a beach at low tide etc. Now any proper medicinal note has gone. Mouth (neat): good, powerful, piney and salty arrival, with crystallised lemons in the back and a growing smokiness. With water: straightforward, peaty, once again a tad too much on oak spices for me (hell, let's just forget about those stunning tropical fruit in the early versions!) but it still has it, largely. Finish: long, rather tarry, simply much more on straight smoke than older young Laphroaigs. Comments: let me give you an example…
SGP:457 - 86 points. |
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Laphroaig 34 yo 1987/2021 (46.2%, OB, Ian Hunter Story, Book 4 : Malt Masters) 
Ex-bourbon and finished in oloroso. Why would anyone finish such an old whisky? This old 34 seems to be a little controversial, that's why we're having it before that old 10 we were mentioning. You're never too cautious, are you… By the way, this is not Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople fame, he was Ian Hunter one the former managers of Laphroaig Distillery. Colour: rich gold. Nose: no glorious straight Laphroaig on the nose, rather a gathering of sherry walnuts, kelp, many old polishes and waxes, old ointments, old mead and cider, putty, paraffin, old furniture, sweet and spicy soups (gentler Thai stuff), the expected hessian, pipe tobacco, last year's old apples in the cellar… This is all complex and rather enticing, it's just lacking the clarity we're expecting from Laphroaig. But it's old so it has excuses… Mouth: same feelings on the palate. There are many superb parts but the make is not that easy to recognise, the whole being a little… untidy or muddled, shall we say. Some old wood, black tea, old raisins, cigar tobacco, a touch of good sulphur (of the truffle kind), some sour sauces (dim-sum stuff), some curious vanilla, roasted nuts, some brine, tiny bits of black olive, and indeed more and more black tea. That's the wood talking. Finish: not too long and mostly on lapsang souchong and fermented plum sauce. Some bacon and a little BBQ sauce in the aftertaste. Comments: please do not get me wrong, even if virtually goes in all directions, I'm still rather a fan of this rather talkative old Laphroaig. Now I've had another sip of the official 40 the other day, it's a whole different world.
SGP:564 - 88 points. |
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Laphroaig 10 yo (90 US proof, OB, 'Unblended', Julius Wile Import, USA, screw cap, +/-1980) 
We always laud the old 10s for Italy (Philippi, Bonfanti, Spirit Import or Cinzano…) but the various ones for American states have been utterly splendid too (we would mention Elsbach & Co, Regal Brands, Buckingham Wile, Hiram Walker or, for that matter, Julius Wile, probably the same company as Buckingham Wile). Colour: yellow gold. Nose: at the intersection of some sumptuous medicinal peat (camphor, bandages, pinewood smoke, various balms) and tropical fruits led by mangos plus citrus led by oranges. One of malt whisky's most seminal noses, while this one didn't totally indulge in tropical fruits. Mouth: fresh mangos and a medicinal peat smoke tangoing forever, the latter keeping the lead, as it did on the nose. Maybe that's because of the higher strength, 90° US proof meaning 45% vol. instead of the usual 43 or even 40% vol. Finish: long and with more and more salinity, totally geared towards oysters until the mangos would fight back. Stunning mangos! And there's even a drop of gewurztraminer, with rose petals and litchees. Yep! Comments: wherever you go, always check any old cupboards that may shelter unlikely liqueurs brought back from the Club Med twenty or thirty years ago. I for one have already unearthed (literally) quite a few old Laphroaig 10, while no one seems to know how good they are. Same with the old Bowmores 'dumpy brown glass' by the way.
SGP:654 – 93 points. |
Fully agreed, an expected outcome today. |
(Thank you Whisky Magazine France) |
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'Own bottlings', I believe this needed to be said |
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Left to right, Clynelish by Adelphi (it came with a small magnifier), Glentauchers by Michiel Wigman, Sutherland blended malt by Thompson Bros. (some Brora inside!)
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There's been some new very lovely bottlings recently that were related to whiskyfun in some way. We keep getting requests for bottles, which is awesome, but let me remind everyone that I am not the initiator, the seller, the selectionist (do you say that) or the promoter of those in any kind of way. They're just done by very engaging friends who, on a side note, happen to belong to the cream of the crop of the whisky business. So, should you desperately need some of those bottles, please refer to the bottlers or vendors, although I'm not sure they're not sold-out. And to think that we haven't even written a single word about those liquids yet… (S., you lazy...)
PS: No, no monies involved either. |
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