Woot woot! AliceInWhiskyland and I were able to get our hands on one of these half sized bottles! We thought about what to do with our tiny bottle and well we just couldn’t wait to try it. So here it is! Our review.

For more info about this expression see our “news” post.

Distillery: Laphroaig

Age: 21 years old

Cask: First fill ex-bourbon with some being air dried instead of kiln dried

ABV: 48.5%

Volume: 35cl

Price: £99.00

For more information on this bottling see our news posting on it here.

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TheMadVatter

Nose

Lively apricots, peaches, stone fruits and jams. Peach cobbler, vanilla and cinnamon. The peat is perfectly balanced being present from start to finish. It’s not overpowering and not faint. Seems to meld into the sweet fruits very well. It’s medicinal but elegantly so. A bit oily and salty like the sea air. Wet wood like being at the docks. Earthy like wet leaves beneath ferns. A bit of that bright green-ness that I get from Hakushu. A bit like fresh cut grass after it rains. Also some dry fruity aromas of white wine.

Taste

Spicy fresh bitter oak. Bitter like unripened fruit. Again the peat is balanced. The medicinal aspects are more pronounced and fuses with the bitter spiciness. Stewed peaches on a graham cracker. Malty biscuits. With more sips the sweetness comes out. The syrup from canned peaches. The syrup from canned mandarin oranges. Very sweet. A bit new rubbery.

Finish

Long spicy dry bitter fresh oak. Wet wood burning smoke. Grass juice. Sweet sweet syrup from canned fruits. Licking new rubber. Zest and rind.

Rating

9

Afterthoughts

I’m a fan! I like sweet. I like peat. I like when they play nice. This dram does just that. It’s bright and lively. It feels zingy in the mouth. It’s like the bright side of sweet peat. If heavily sherried peat monsters are the brooding dark bad twin, then this is the cheery, bright and witty twin. It’s refreshing and it makes you want to drink more and more. It lifts your spirits so to speak. I wish this bottle weren’t so darn small and so darn expensive.

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AliceInWhiskyland

Nose

Burnt branches and maple syrup with hints of vanilla.

Taste

The delicate sweet of caramelized bananas straight off the BBQ. Roasted pine nuts with dried fruit. The peat is medicinal but soft.

Finish

Lingering spices. Cinnamon with a touch of ginger.

Rating

8

Afterthoughts

A peaty dram as you would expect from a Laphroaig but the peat is quickly met with a complex bouquet of other flavours. I really liked this dram. Even though it’s peaty, the peat doesn’t overwhelm everything.