A pretty special sample as this is a much more well aged version of the dram that got me started. For that reason I wanted to approach it knowing what it was rather than come across it blind, so I’m reviewing it now.
Minutia: Matured in ex-Bourbon barrels and 2nd-fill ex-Oloroso Sherry casks, bottled in 2017. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Color: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry, 1.2.
Nose: Briny peat, bit medicinal.
Taste: It’s hard to describe this one. So much happens so quickly it’s hard to pinpoint. It’s big at first, mostly a musty fruit, that fades into a really deep fruit flavor with a smoky background. Apple, cinnamon, pepper. Peach? It just cycles the whole time it’s in your mouth.
Finish: Light but lingering, hint of fruit, mostly smoked pepper, brine, some nuts on the tail end. Berry well on the tail end.
I am thoroughly impressed. I expected to be disappointed, as if something I regard as highly as Laphroaig with such an age statement could never disappoint, and at such a price it’s bound to. But boy was I wrong. The peat I expected muted from age? There. The flavors I never expected to find with Laphroaig’s generally strong and intense profile? There. A feeling of letdown? Nowhere to be found. Is it worth the market price for this? Probably not, that’s a really hard price point to find any kind of value at all. But if you buy a bottle, you likely won’t be disappointed.
Score: 91
SMWS Name: The burning hospital goes to the fair
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