The North East Whisky Appreciate Society @eastwhisky is a great little group based in the north east of England who organise regular virtual tastings, this one featured @Laphroaig
The tasting was hosted by Caroline the Assistant Visitor Centre Manager
at Laphroaig.
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Caroline led us through 5 of their bottlings:
Here are my brief tasting notes:
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2022 Warehouse 1 52.2% ABV Jim Beam Hogshead (Labelled 1 above)
Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line in the glass, form small beads and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose: smoke, salinity, honey sweetness, cut grass, herbal hints, citrus.
Palate: thick sweet arrival, tropical fruit, vanilla, cereal, spice, sour grapefruit, ashy smoke.
Thoughts: typical Laphroaig turned up to 10!
Laphroaig 1999 23yo Single Cask #5172 from the middle of racked Warehouse 10 53.2% ABV Jim Beam Hogshead (Labelled 2 above)
Appearance: mid gold in the glass, swirls leave a thick line in the glass, form large beads and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose: toffee, mint, sherbet, orange and gentle smoke.
Palate: thick sweet creamy arrival, immediately spicy, tropical fruit, peach, honey, dry salinity and a little gentle smoke.
Thoughts: a very non-typical Laphroaig, 23 years in a
bourbon cask have tamed the typical Laphroaig smoke and added sweetness,
spice and vanilla. Yummy!
Laphroaig 2012 10yo Single Cask #104 from Warehouse 19 by the forest 52.6% ABV 8 yrs Makers Mark Hogshead, 2 yrs FF Oloroso (Labelled 5 above)
Appearance: dark bronze in the glass, swirls leave a thick line in the glass, form large beads and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose: sherry, dried fruit, toffee, balsamic vinegar drizzled strawberries.
Palate: thick sweet arrival, sticky toffee pudding, salinity, figs, dates, prunes, gentle smoke.
Thoughts: a more typical Laphroaig sherry cask finished
Laphroaig, initially I thought this might be PX. Yummy!
Laphroaig 2004 18yo Single Cask #101 from Dunnage Warehouse 7 53.9% ABV 8 yrs Makers Mark Hogshead, 10 yrs PX (Labelled 4 above)
Appearance: dark bronze in the glass, swirls leave a thick line in the glass, form large beads and fall as slow thick oily legs.
Nose: blueberry jam, sherry, dates, sticky toffee pudding, cola, dried fruit.
Palate: thick sweet arrival, gentle smoke, caramel, sticky toffee pudding, black cherries, dried fruit, blueberries, brown sugar.
Thoughts: another non-typical Laphroaig, this one has a little
story: supposedly as casks were moved around the warehouse after their 2
year PX finish, this one was accidently covered in a blanket and 'forgotten'
about for 8 year. I'd previously dried this at Kendal Whisky Festival in
2022 and it was my dram of the year for 2022. Yummy!
Laphroaig 2015 7yo Single Cask #1020 from Warehouse 9 65.2% ABV Virgin Oak (Labelled 3 above)
Appearance: mid gold in the glass, swirls leave a thin line in the glass, form tiny beads and fall as slow thin oily legs.
Nose: gentle smoke, spice, medicinal notes, tropical fruit.
Palate: thick arrival, huge smoke, tropical fruit, honey, salinity, a bit of ABV burn, vanilla and ginger spice.
Thoughts: another non-typical Laphroaig, a sister cask to #1023
which I tried whilst at the distillery last
September!
Overall a really lovely set of drams, apart from the first one it's unlikely
you'll find these to try anywhere except the bar at the distillery - they are
just not for sale by the bottle. Everyone thinks of Laphroaig as having big
bold smoke notes but this flight shows that this isn't always the case, a
longer maturation, a finish or 2nd maturation in sherry or a completely
different cask like Virgin Oak turns the spirit on it's head - you still get
distillery character but there's a lot more added complexity. Huge thanks to
Karl at NEWAS and Caroline from the distillery for sharing these drams - a
fantastic night was had by all. I just wish some of these were available to
buy and enjoy!
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| Some serious cask sediment in sample 2! |
You can catch up with the whole session over on NEWAS' youtube channel.
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