Origin: Isle of Islay (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 48%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex Bourbon and ex-Sherry
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Suntory
Average price: € 110.00
Official website: www.laphroaig.com
Introduced into the Laphroaig core range in 2021, this version of the classic 10-year-old sees the addition of an unspecified finishing period (reportedly one year) in ex-Oloroso sherry casks.
Compared to the basic version, there is a +8 abv and no adulteration, so the premises are already good.
Tasting Notes
The sherry finishing has definitely done its work, at least on the nose, shifting Laphroaig’s medicinal and coastal peat towards leather and barbecue, transforming the aromas into darker tones. Maraschino, red orange, nutmeg, cloves, and cinchona revolve around the peaty heart, with a lively vein between mineral and metallic notes throughout. A rough, smoky sweetness emerges, although it somewhat dulls the spirit of the distillate.
Black pepper, ginger, and nutmeg open the sip, with the palate receiving impressions similar to those of the nose, always expressed in a dark sweetness. Barbecue ribs marinated in soy sauce, with an intrusion of anchovies in brine, along with sour cherries, sweet licorice, bitter cocoa, maple syrup, citrus, pecans, leather, and tobacco. The metallic and mineral vein also returns, more evident in length, as does the smoky part that glides toward the extinguished embers.
Finale quite long and spicy, very dry and salty, with brine, barbecue, citrus, acrid smoke, and leather.
Review: It may not fully express the soul of Laphroaig, but the sip is so much richer and deeper than the standard ten-year that it makes you forgive this small betrayal. A well-crafted modern sherried whisky, a fine example of how sherry can work with peat in a good balance.
Vote: 86/100