| |
Residence
Hundreds of tastings,
all of the music,
all of the rambligs
and all of the enjoyable
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Assured ad-free
copyright 2002-2024
|
 |
|
| Hello, that is certainly one of our (nearly) every day tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
|
September 16, 2024
|
|
  |
|
Just a few latest Laphroaigs
together with the lauded new 18
|
|
|
| Twilight at Laphroaig (WF Archive, 2015) |
|
This time, we gained’t have any ‘Secret Islay’, ‘Williamson’, ‘Leapfrog’ or ‘Bessie’s Finest’… Until now we have an older one, simply as an aperitif. Maybe an outdated ‘Laudable’ from DL?
|
|
|
Laudable 1985/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing, Outdated Malt Cask, 303 bottles) 
One of many first OMCs, truly named ‘Director’s Laudable Choice’. This hails from the times when Laphroaig began getting a bit feisty with independents utilizing their identify, which is, in spite of everything, simply the identify of a spot. However we gained’t get into legalities, as that’s hardly our forte, and we wouldn’t do it for tuppence anyway. Color: pale white wine. Nostril: pretty, extra crystalline than the OBs of the time, leaning in direction of lemon juice and inexperienced apple, with a extra vegetal peat, although the medicinal parts catch up reasonably rapidly, particularly mercurochrome and iodine tincture… With water: some bitter smoked almonds, elderflower, and a touch of outdated paper… A little bit of OBE might have began working its (very relative) magic right here. Mouth (neat): oddly candy this time, and we are able to’t assist however use ‘limoncello’ as a descriptor. Candy and barely bitter, with a great deal of ash and oysters. With water: barley syrup, brine, and lemon syrup. The brine and sweetness tussle a bit. End: reasonably lengthy, changing into extra taut, medicinal, very peaty, and fairly bitter. A syrupy aftertaste once more. Feedback: unusual, it carried this stunning sweetness all through the palate. Not the simplest of vintages.
SGP:676 – 86 factors. |
|
Let’s leap forward 25 years…
|
|
|
Laphroaig 18 yo (48%, OB, ex-bourbon, 2024) 
Right here now we have the brand new Laphroaig 18-year-old, making a return after round a decade of absence. To be trustworthy, I wasn’t significantly keen on the outdated model, which I discovered reasonably overly influenced by new American oak (WF 84) and notably inferior to the 15-year-old. It was usually described as being ‘a bit plankish’. Color: white wine. Hurray, because the earlier 18 was extra golden. Nostril: straight to the hospital right here. Bandages, camphor, a wide range of balms, iodine, contemporary plaster, adopted by lemon and smoked oysters. It’s not a very advanced nostril, however for me, it ticks all of the containers. Extra importantly, it buries our aperitif six ft beneath – or reasonably, beneath the seashore! Mouth: excellent, highly effective, sharp, saline, lemony, and intensely smoky. There are some small berries, a touch of rubber, a contact of tar, and a really persistent smoky, maritime character. It progressively turns into creamier, however by no means excessively so; the white oak behaves admirably. End: lengthy, with a beautiful bitterness that’s ever so barely syrupy. The citrus pushes by means of within the aftertaste, joined by contemporary bitter almonds. Feedback: completely to my style, nearer to the distillate than among the newer official Laphroaigs, and clearly superior to the outdated 18.
SGP:457 – 89 factors. |
|
|
Laphroaig 10 yo ‘Authentic Cask Power Batch 16’ (58.5%, OB, Dec 22)
We’re continuously behind with these 10 C/S batches, and albeit, we’re reasonably ashamed. That stated, they’ve turn into fairly totally different from the older variations. Color: full gold. Nostril: richer than the 18, oilier, however with pretty notes of yellow pepper atop the peat and candied oranges. With water: I actually like this. Chalk, plaster, shoe polish, peppers, tar, contemporary paint, putty, carbolineum, and a contact of barley sugar… Thus far, nothing to complain about. Mouth (neat): extraordinarily zesty. Lemon juice, ashes, inexperienced pepper, sea water, chillies, and truffled olive oil. As they are saying, it packs fairly a punch. With water: it swims superbly, although it does turn into, as soon as once more, a bit liqueur-like, a contact sweeter. We’ll point out limoncello as soon as extra. Aside from that, it’s just about spot on. End: very lengthy, with smoky, candy, and salty citrus notes. Fairly the profile. Feedback: I feel that is – or reasonably, was – a wonderful batch. We’d need to skip two or three to catch up over the subsequent few months or years.
SGP:557 – 88 factors. |
|
|
Laphroaig 36 yo (40.2%, OB, The Archive Assortment, second-fill oloroso end, 400 bottles, 2024)
It appears this one’s a 1985 classic, very like our early Laudable. Giving a crowning glory to an outdated legend like this malt feels a bit just like the beauty surgical procedure some ageing actresses endure. Naturally, one thinks of expensive Nicole Ok… or maybe Ardbeg 1965. However who’re we to guage, in spite of everything? Color: gold, no darker than that. Nostril: the sherry stays delightfully delicate, whereas the hallmark ardour fruit and mango of outdated Laphroaigs are very a lot current. There’s additionally yellow peach, adopted by outdated materials, a contact of beeswax polish, some cough drops, and a drop of gentian liqueur (Avèze, Suze). I discover this a lot nicer than I’d feared, and in the long run, it jogs my memory slightly of the Ardbeg 30 ‘Very Outdated’. Certainly. And even, in some methods, the Laphroaig 40/1960. Mouth: as anticipated, it’s extra drained on the palate, although the preliminary assault remains to be respectable – that is very a lot a whisky for the nostril. A little bit of outdated wooden, natural teas, orange and cinnamon biscuits, and a few outdated walnuts, most likely from the oloroso. After that magnificent nostril, the palate is sort of anecdotal. End: brief, dry, with a touch of flippantly brewed lapsang souchong tea. Feedback: it’s charming. It’s a bit like an outdated black-and-white movie or a 78rpm jazz document, one thing like classic Ellington. However actually, it’s a Laphroaig for the nostril. I consider the resemblance to that excellent 40-year-old stops there.
SGP:464 – 85 factors. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
