Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength
Batch #12 | 60.1% ABV
Bonus Review: Laphroaig 10 Sherry Oak Finish 48%
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
When it comes to Laphroaig, Cask Strength is where it’s at
Islay advice. And serendipity
It’s 10:13am and we are just getting ready to dock in Port Ellen harbour and I’m getting anxious. Our tour at Laphroaig starts at 10:30am and Google Maps tells me we have a 36 minute walk ahead of us. Things are not looking rosy.
“It's fine”, I tell myself, “there’s bound to be a taxi or two waiting at the harbour for intrepid whisky tourists like ourselves.” Except there aren’t. Anxiety levels begin to rise. I thought Islay was meant to be relaxing? That’s what everyone tells me.
We start to run but even in the back of my mind I know we’re never going to make it. “What we need now is divine intervention,” quips one of our party. A roll of the eyes and a stern retort: “Just keep running.”
Undeterred we press on and, looking over my shoulder as we get to the Co-Op supermarket in Port Ellen, I hear the purr of an engine. “Please be a taxi,” I say to myself and to my surprise it is - and it’s pulling over. I bolt over, hoping we can score an unlikely lift.
“Any chance you’re going to Laphroaig?” I ask.
“Actually, we are,” comes the reply in an accent I wasn’t expecting. “However this couple have booked the taxi so it’ll be up to them if you can come along.”
Crestfallen I reply, “Ah no worries, forget about it, there’s four of us so there won’t be room.”
“Actually it’s a seven seater,’ replies the Dublin-born cabby.
An eloquent American gentleman in the back seat invites us in and tells us his wife is grabbing a sandwich from the supermarket, adding that they’re on the same tour as us. Talk about serendipity.
It’s a short trip to the whitewashed walls of Laphroaig and we arrive with two-minutes to spare, safe in the knowledge that in future, taxis will have to be booked in advance while on Islay.
We pay for the taxi and excitedly scamper past Warehouse 1 towards the visitor centre, all the while taking in the stunning vista of Loch Laphroaig.
Prior to the Islay trip I was asked by the organiser if we should pre-book a tour. Having never been I wasn’t sure so I said I’d ask those in the know, so I turned to the Dramface writing team, who told me: “Unless you just want to look at distillery gates then booking is advisable” came the sage like wisdom from one of the team.
We were around six weeks away from the actual date of our trip and when we went to pre-book our tours we had two choices; four of us could go to Laphroaig at 10.30am, the other eight on the boat could go to Lagavulin at 11.30am. That was it. No other options were available in the Kildalton trio that day which just shows you the popularity of Islay. This was highlighted ever more so by the steady stream of people who just popped in on the off chance of getting a tour only to be disappointed when told all tours were full for the day.
Now, not all Laphroaigs float my boat. In fact more often than not I end up slightly disappointed. But when a Laphroaig is good it can be very good. Even with the burden of, more often than not, being disappointed, knew that on my first visit to Islay that Laphroaig was the distillery I wanted to tour first. I’m not sure why because I generally prefer the Ardbeg core range, but I think there’s a certain romanticism to Laphroaig or maybe their marketing is just more successful if I’m being cynical. Maybe it’s the fact that Dallas always bangs on about pre-80’s Laphroaig being a wonderful thing and that in my heart I just want Laphroaig to be great again.
Anyway the draw was there, now I’d finally made it to this Mecca of whisky and internally I was dancing a jig.
The tour itself was quite the world away from some of the more commercial tours I’ve had in the likes of Bushmills and Midleton. Like the island of Islay itself, the tour was calm - I felt like I had time to breathe, to explore, to take it all in. I believe the standard tour in Laphroaig only accommodates 14 individuals. It lasts for one and half hours. No rushing here, no melee’s or scrums. While the information proffered was much like any other tour, there’s definitely a certain indescribable magic there and at £15 was well worth the entry fee.
After the tour it was on to the distillery shop for our welcome dram of Cairdeas 2022 and then a few drams from the distillery bar before heading outside to sample our wares in the shadow of Warehouse 1, all the while immersing ourselves in the vista provided by Loch Laphroaig. If one word was used to describe the experience it would be “chilled”. I hadn’t felt so relaxed in ages.
After taking our fill of Laphroaig we made our way to Lagavulin to meet the rest of the gang. On the way we chatted about the experience and if we’d do it again. The replies were all affirmative and plans for a return trip are currently being enacted. Ardbeg is next on the hit list and all being well plans for a long weekend to explore further into the island are taking shape too.
While at the Laphroaig distillery shop I bought the only bottle on offer, apart from the 25 year old, that I didn’t already own or had owned which was the Lore. I had originally meant to include that in the review for this piece, but that expression has been covered on Dramface already and my own thoughts can be found there.
Thanks to our editors’ good will, I’m going to review the 10 year old Sherry Oak (I know it’s already reviewed but my tardiness meant I missed the boat on adding my notes to that review) and also the 10 year old Cask Strength Batch 12, both of which I bought from the online Laphroaig shop. First up the Cask Strength. As a side note these were tasted on separate days.
Review
Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength, Batch #12, 60.1% ABV
£69 and (latest batches) generally available
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
When it comes to Laphroaig, Cask Strength is where it’s at
Nose
Initially absent of smoke. Manuka honey, biscuity malt, chalk and lemon thyme. Grilled pineapple and pears over a seaside bonfire made of driftwood and seaweed. Tar covered rags plus vanilla and a hint of fresh coconut. Water lets the peat loose along with more medicinal notes of iodine and bourbon cask sweetness.
Palate
Unsurprisingly at first sip there is a little bit of alcohol kick back. A nice oily mouthfeel though. Smoked lemons, sea spray, dark cocoa and caramel. Iodine, dry peat and malt. Some pineapple, barbecued banana topped with cinnamon and also a white pepper note. Water adds more of a peppery bite along with a little menthol. The finish is pretty long with caramel sweetness, smoky lemons and spicy oak.
Score: 7/10
Bonus Review
Laphroaig 10yo Sherry Oak Finish, 48% ABV
£65 and generally available
Score: 4/10
Some promise.
TL;DR
Laphroaig’s core range remains hit-and-miss
Nose
Surprisingly subdued for a Laphroaig – neither a peat bomb nor a sherry bomb. Coal tar, wet rope, lapsang souchong tea, talcum powder and a smouldering bonfire. Roast hazelnuts and a hint of bacon lardons. The expected sherry notes are quite hard to detect, eventually I get some smoked paprika too.
Palate
For 48% the mouthfeel is really quite thin. Not particularly sweet on arrival. There’s lemon rinds, a dry nuttiness, salted dark chocolate, leather, ash and dried seaweed. The finish is really short offering not much more than dry ash and sour lemon.
Score: 4/10
The Dregs
Let’s start with the Cask Strength. Maybe not the most expressive of the recent Cask Strength Batches but a really solid dram nonetheless. For me the Cask Strength releases are where the value is at with Laphroaig right now offering unadulterated whisky in a full bourbon maturation that is a totally different and in my opinion, much more enjoyable animal than the core 10 year old release that is just a pure peat punch in yer bake!
Sherried Laphroaig has been more miss than hit with me, especially in the core or travel retail ranges. The Triple Wood and PX finish underwhelmed and are sadly joined by the 10 year old Sherry Oak. All the action here happens at the front of the palate but offers practically no aroma or flavour development. It’s neither particularly sweet or particularly savoury. I’d describe it as austere and definitely not a bottle I’d buy again especially at the price which is just shy of the much more expressive 10 year old Cask Strength. I know that the guys who reviewed this previously were more effusive about this release but it does little for me sadly.
So while the tour of the distillery may have filled me with joy, again the core range of Laphroaig reinforces the hit and miss feel of the whisky. The thing is I know I’ll probably still buy whatever new core release comes out in the hope that Laphroaig can indeed become great again.
Tried these? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AG
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