Williamson 11 yo 2012/2023 (56.4%, North Star, PX sherry, 240 bottles) 
Colour: pale amber. Nose: a lovely leafy and salty sherry profile that is highly accessible, while still preserving all this rather classical Laphroaig peat, medicine and seashore DNA. Lots of bacon jam, salted liquorice, tar, cough syrup and TCP. Also hints of iodine, pickling juices and tarred rope. Extremely classical and showing great integration between the sherry and peat. Mouth: great tarriness, very much on tarred rope, roof pitch, road surface and iodine. Some BBQ embers and hints of smoked chipotle, kippers and brine mixed with lemon juice. Also these very classical dry sherry impressions of salted almonds and cured ham. Add in a few black olives too! Finish: long, bone dry, extremely salty, briny, olivey and medicinal. Comments: the ABV really works here, as does the sherry and peat fusion which I think has worked out pretty well. Feels very much like tumbler-ready Laphroaig! 
SGP: 367 - 87 points. 

Laphroaig 9 yo 1987/1996 (46%, Murray McDavid, bourbon, #MM9492)
A rather charming parcel of stocks which I always thought were generally high calibre from the various versions I could try over the years. Colour: pale straw. Nose: the ABV works perfectly here, abundant coastal freshness and character. Soft, wispy and lemony peat smoke, beach pebbles and hints of grapefruit and a tiny glimmer of passion fruit. Mouth: lovely richness and a round, savoury smokiness. Then goes more towards grapefruit, lemon tea, soot peat embers, tar and mineral salts. Finish: medium, chalky, peaty with antiseptic, seawater and grapefruit again. Comments: simple but totally pristine young Laphroaig. 
SGP: 456 - 88 points. 

Laphroaig 14 yo 1987/2002 (60.26%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask for Potstill Vienna, 126 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: slightly tight at first, unsurprisingly given the strength, all on higher end citrus juices, seawater and hints of things like mackerel grilled over wood coals. There's also the beloved pickling brines and tar! With water: excellent with water now! Fatter, fruitier and with a sweet, deep and textural peat smoke that gives that wonderful 'head in a kiln' vibe. Mouth: pow! Fantastically pure, medicinal and coastal Laphroaig. Zinging with lime and lemon juices, brine, iodine and impressions of wet kelp and a little hessian. With water: pure brine and medicinal power with fat, creamy peat smoke, lemon infused olive oil, tar and grapefruit. Finish: long, oily, tarry and briny. Also some sooty and almost greasy peat flavours in the aftertaste. Superb! Comments: 1987 seems to have been a winning year for Laphroaig. I just love this one with its purity of character, simplicity and power. 
SGP: 567 - 91 points. 

Laphroaig 8 yo 1998/2007 (46%, Douglas Laing McGibbon's Provenance, Autumn distillation, two refill hogsheads)
Let's see how the distillate compares one decade later… Colour: white wine. Nose: always fascinating to do these kinds of head to head, this is also super clean but ashier, more immediately on mineral salts, smoked sea salt, brine and lemon juice. A sharper and more punchy peat aroma as well. Also more medicinal I would say. Mouth: very close to the OB 10 year olds from this era, but cleaner, punchier and with lighter wood influence. So seawater, grapefruit, lemon juice on fresh oysters and raw, slightly woolly peat smoke. Finish: long, tarry, salty, peaty and pristinely on bonfire smoke and iodine. A grilled kipper winking in the aftertaste! Comments: a different, slightly bigger and less fruity distillate profile to the previous decade, but I would say the quality remains the same as the MM. Love the basic, unvarnished purity of these Laphroaigs, terrific distillate! 
SGP: 366 - 88 points.

Laphroaig 10 yo (43%, OB, 'unblended Islay malt', Roland Marken Import Bremen, Germany, screwcap, 75cl, rotation 1981)  
A bottle I opened and poured at my wedding. Actually, correction, a bottle I left in front of Serge and Marcel at my wedding, they didn't need any assistance with the opening and pouring part… Colour: gold. Nose: superbly tarry and coastal, full of wet beach pebbles, rock pools and dried seaweed, then iodine, TCP and bandages. Impressions of kiln air, dirty martini full of various shades of olives and their brine! Sooty coal smoke aromas, soy sauce, camphor and old tarred rope. In time a little more of these exotic fruits and in particular grapefruit. Mouth: some kind of preserved and salted tropical fruits! Seriously, mango and grapefruit that's preserved with sea salt. Then more tarred rope, more iodine, a glimmer of passion fruit and stunning notes of seawater and even an impression of salted honey. Finish: long and riddled with a wonderfully fat, almost grubby peat smoke, shellfish broiling in seawater, tar, anchovies in smoked olive oil and a lingering echo  of mango. Comments: old Laphroaig 10s are supposed to be 'lighter', but that doesn't really feel like the case here. Quite stunning, as expected. 
SGP: 656 - 93 points.