Laphroaig Lore
Official Release | 48% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average..
TL;DR
Top shelf nose let down by a hollow palate
The richest of the rich?
For many of us, especially those considered whisky geeks, lovers, aficionados or hoarders, many of us, I’m sure, were recently asked for whisky recommendations for gifts as the festive season approached.
With the advent of blogs, review sites, and YouTube channels, it’s never been easier to provide whisky recommendations based on someone else’s palate… as long as you trust them. You needn’t have tried every whisky, but knowing where to look was the quickest way to getting a peat-lover something up their alley. As such, I blame Daniel from The Whiskey Vault for this purchase of Laphroaig Lore. Upon declaring his love for this release and accumulating some birthday and holiday cash, I purchased myself a gift of whisky.
Being a fan of peat and always wanting to try an older Laphroaig with its promises of decomposed peat phenols that have turned into unique fruit notes, I took the plunge. The Vault’s head honchos have routinely referenced darker notes with limited pineapple-like fruit notes*. Seeing as official bottlings of older Laphroaig’s would cost both of my kidneys, I settled for the Lore as I’m also a black coffee drinker, make myself a proper double shot of espresso in the morning and routinely prefer dark chocolate.
“...this elevated expression is bound to impress.”
If Laphroaig is promising the richest of the rich in terms of whisky flavour, then I would be remiss in not providing my honest feedback as I am one of you - a peat-loving hard working bloke who paid for this whisky in full without handouts, brand ambassador secret handshakes or any real-world whisky connections. Let’s dive in and see if you can agree with my explanation of the score and the TL;DR that led this lengthy tirade.
*Our honcho-with-a-head points out that the referenced Whiskey Vault review (and bottle) hails from April 2018 and Laphroaig, like any malt whisky, will certainly display batch variation. The bottle under review here is a 2020 bottling.
Review
Laphroaig Lore, official release 48% ABV
CAD$175 (£104), but readily available in the U.K. and £61 from the distillery
Rather than regurgitating internet data, please give the Whisky Geek Ben’s video a watch to understand the various components that are typically vatted together to make Laphroaig Lore. It’s short, full of details, and Ben’s palate is phenomenal as well.
Nose
Mineralic salinity. Dark chocolate and cocoa powder, with a touch of dark roast espresso powder. Dark Manuka honey or dark brown sugar with dried apricots. Smoked vanilla. Rich dry peat hiding in the background. It’s quite the antithesis to other core range Laphroaig as it indicates to me there must be a moderate portion of older stock in these vattings (I wrote these notes before researching Lore’s components. I’ll give myself a pat on the back now).
Palate
Soft, then it smacks you with black pepper, oak tannins and dry peat/wood smoke. The sweetness from the nose is drastically reduced while the dark chocolate and cocoa bitterness remains. There’s a hollowness to the mid-palate experience. Only after many many sips, even a second pour, does some nondescript fruit notes appear accompanied with some honey-like sweetness. The hollowness right in the middle of the experience remains after successive drinks. The finish of peat and mystery fruitiness/sweetness does linger for quite some time.
The Dregs
The smell of this is amazing, unfortunately the drinking experience lacks any sort of experience. I’ve had this open for a year so I’m not dealing with any sort of neck pour funny business. It takes such a long time for this whisky to unfurl on your palate, that you need a few hours of time and no responsibilities after imbibing multiple drams. Personally, this relegates this whisky to a ‘session whisky’, one which elevates it to an occasion whisky to extract the nuances out.
I’ve rated this quite low, which might be a shock to you, especially if you’re on Team Laphroaig. I’d rate this a 6/10 without considering price, but when slapped with the exorbitant luxury-style cost that I paid for it and others routinely do in North America, it gets dropped down a full point. If you live in Europe or Scotland, and this retails for around the £60-65 mark, I think the 6/10 score is fair although the Lore is up against some stiff competition at that price. The hollowness in the mid-palate still bugs me but if you don’t mind this, then this is a yummy Laphroaig. In objectivity since I may have offended some peatheads, I love my 2021 Laphroaig Cairdeas PX release, which cost £25 less than I paid for my bottle of Lore, and £45 cheaper than the current Lore prices in my area. I would likely score that Cairdeas a 7/10 if I get around to reviewing it here on Dramface.
So back to the gift giving category. Should you recommend Laphroaig Lore to someone asking for your whisky insight? Don’t take my review too seriously as I’m just a single voice bobbing on the Sea of Peat, but I would likely point you to other distilleries or releases. There’s far too many good and still a few excellent whiskies hiding on the shelves these days. You, and your giftee, can only benefit from the good fortune we find ourselves in - and don’t fall prey to all promises of richness.
Score: 5/10 BB
Archie’s Review
Laphroaig Lore, Official Release 48% ABV, widely available
£61 at the distillery
Score: 5/10
Average.
TL;DR
Not bad, just boring in a competitive price bracket
Nose
Quite restrained and gentle for a Laphroaig. Extinguished campfire smoke and iodine. Furniture polish and camphor. Honey, black tea, brined lemons. Then comes some spice with sweet cinnamon and black liquorice plus toasted oak and some dried tobacco leaf. Time brings some brown sugar, raisins and dark chocolate.
Palate
Peat smoke and an oily rag. Brine, salted lemons and smoked oysters. Some bitter dark chocolate with a smidgen of coffee grounds. Honey roast peanuts, tobacco leaf and some heat from ginger and black pepper. The finish is of medium length with a nice creamy note followed by light peat smoke and ginger warmth.
The Dregs
‘Lore, meaning the passing of a skill or tradition through word of mouth, is the story we make one of the world’s richest single malt scotch whiskies.’ So goes the marketing bumph on the back of the tube for my bottle of Lore which I bought this summer at the distillery for £61 I believe, which is interesting because when this first released in 2016 it retailed for £80. It certainly sticks in my mind as the only core release whisky that I know of that has become cheaper the longer it’s been on the market, and quite a substantial drop too.
I believe this would be much better named Laphroaig Bore. The nose is actually really nice and enticing but start drinking the stuff and that’s when things go awry. The palate just can’t meet the expectations built by that lovely nose. I’m halfway through my bottle now and I was only lured back into opening the bottle again because Broddy kindly offered the chance to contribute notes to his piece.
It's not a bad whisky, it’s just not very entertaining. It’s just boring and for £61 there are a lot better options available if you are a peathead. Maybe this explains the frankly massive price drop? Was it so boring the only way to get it off the shelves was to discount it? If Laphroaig still piques your interest I’d recommend the Quarter Cask over this with the added benefit of saving yourself a few quid. Or, if you wanted to spend a little more, buy the 10 year old cask strength at around £75 which delivers much more impact and flavour.
Score: 5/10 AG
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB
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Other opinions on this:
Scotch Test Dummies (video)
Whisky Geek (video)
Whisky in the 6 (video)
Whiskey Tribe (video)
Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.
