Laphroaig Lore

Laphroaig was my first love as far as whisky and will always hold a place in my heart. This is marketed as a summation of what “Laphroaig” is, more or less. After some stellar reviews of mid-high 20s Laphroaig, I’m looking forward to it. This was one of those bottles that’s hard not to open while trying to keep the collection of open bottles under control. I’ve seen some silly prices for this, but have also seen it quite reasonably priced, definitely one of the most variable in that regard. So, how is it?

Laphroaig Lore, Islay Single Malt, 48% ABV

Minutia: Ostensibly a 7 year age statement, this is described as having casks ranging 7 to 21 years old. Cask breakdown says five different types and I’ve seen ex-Laphroaig barrels, Sherry casks, 1st fill -ex-Bourbon casks, virgin European oak casks, and quarter casks, so I guess that’s the five. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny russet muscat, 1.3.5.

Nose: Classic Laphroaig as you pour it. Oaky, smoky, medicinal, vanilla/caramel. Musty dark fruit.

Taste: Smoke and oak/spice creepy up after a salty/oily opening. There isn’t really fruit in that opening, but it somehow reminds of it. Maybe like if you pick up some berries that washed ashore during an oil spill?

Finish: Smoke immediately overwhelms the other flavors. It gradually fades giving way to salinity, which takes on an earthy quality. Once the smoke and salt kind of find their quilibrium the oiliness returns in the back seat.

I really liked this. It never disappointed, but after being about 20% full for a while, it seemed to be even better. It’s worth noting that it was sitting like that for a while because I wasn’t finding myself in the mood for whisky all that much for a while, and even then reached for some of the less full bottles of less/unpeated varieties I’d already reviewed to make some shelf space, so that time away could be a bigger factor than sitting for a while in letting this have the flavor impact a proper Laphroaig ought to. And that was the takeaway feeling: a proper Laphroaig. In that regard, the name is well representative of what’s in the bottle. 

I think they could have gone another way with this one, name/marketing-wise, though. While the dram does scream “Laphroaig,” this has a real feel of a “Kildalton single malt.” So many different times this reminded me of Ardbeg and Lagavulin. If you told me this was a blended Islay malt, I’d be certain it was from the trio. 

Drinks a bit under it’s proof, too, not where it feels lacking, but that even at 48% the ethanol doesn’t interfere with the flavor a bit. If the prices are close enough, for me this would replace the 10 as a regular bottle, but that’ll depend on the store and all that. If I could get it at the price Laphroaig’s website has it for, I’d choose this over the 10. Here at about $80, I think it delivers for its value but is just too costly to be a regular thing. The listings I’ve seen for $130 and up, that store’s having a laugh.

Score: 92

Musical Evocation: Cruachan – “Óró sé do bheatha abhaile”

Silk City Smoked Malt Whiskey

I was checking out distilleries local to me a while ago and stumbled across one right nearby that happened to have done a limited batch with smoked malt. As a peat fan, it was right up my alley to drive over and give it a try.

Silk City Smoked Malt Whiskey, American Single Malt, 50.5% ABV

Minutia: Mashbill of 55% distillers malt, 45% beechwood smoked barley. Aged 2 years in American oak. From Batch 1, one of about 220 375ml bottles. Produced in Clifton, NJ. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Chocolate. Fruit, cherry being the most prominent. Bit of shortbread/butter cookies, which become more prominent with time in the glass. 

Taste: Spices, dark cherry, smoke. Creamy. Chocolate is not really there, but that cherry could be a chocolate covered cherry where the fruit overpowers the chocolate flavor.

Finish: Strong, creamy chocolate, smoke and spice comes in then fades quickly leaving a subtle note of that delightful chocolate around. Medium-long to long.

Wow, I’m super impressed a young distillery so local made something this good. Once they have their tasting room properly open again, I see myself pushing for that to be a place of gathering when getting together with friends to try more of their whiskey. That chocolate quality is potent and delightful, and this reminds me of a Bunnahabhain aged nearly thirty years in that regard. Remarkable they got that with just two. I’m sad this was a limited batch and bottles were small. Price was nice, even for the size, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next batch if that happens.

Score: 89

Musical Evocation: Winterfylleth – “Ensigns of Victory”

Laphroaig Select

I was kind of happy to hear about this since I like Laphroaig a lot and a cheaper version sounded nice. Then the reviews came in and I wasn’t as keen on it any longer. I held off on a bottle and ordered a sample when I saw one available. So, how did it hold up?

Laphroaig Select, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Spirit taken from what would go into Quarter Cask, PX Cask, Triple Wood, and the standard 10, it marries in virgin American oak casks.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Briny sea smoke, tea, citrus, medicinal.

Taste: Light smoke, herbal, apple.

Finish: Iodiney smoke, oak, spice. Fairly short.

Unusual for 40%ers for me, the finish brought this up slightly. Though it disappears fairly quickly, it does offer nice flavors. While this is far from spectacular, it’s not quite the disaster I’ve seen people make it out to be, objectively speaking. When we’re talking about price, it gets closer. Near me, one store has the 10 priced at $55 and Select at $45. That’s far too close to ever choose this over the 10. Priced at or below $30 (where I think this belongs), it’s an easier decision to buy this if you have to restrict your budget. This seems to me like a very good option in those bottom shelf, budget style single malts, but it’s priced on the lower end of the tier just above budget and that’s a problem. Laphroaig’s website has it priced between 20 and 30 euros, and I think that’s a good price for this.

Score: 80

Musical Evocation: Dethklok – “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle”

Bushmills 21

I picked up a sample of this when I saw it was available while interested in exploring Irish whiskies, specifically single malt and pot still while taking a bit of a break from peat. I like the 16 a good deal so had high hopes here. The different cask makeup is interesting.

Bushmills 21, Ireland Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: 19 years in ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso casks, spending a final 2 years in ex-Madeira casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Tawny, 1.4.

Nose: Fruity, molasses, malty.

Taste: Fruit, slight spice, light feel.

Finish: Spicier taste, fades and leaves chocolatey malt.

This is nice, but a bit light. It leaves you wondering why they would bottle something they spent 21 years crafting at 40%. At 46% this might warrant what it looks like it goes for. As it stands it is better than the 16 by a bit, so if they were priced closely this would be the pick, but I think it costs too much more than the 16 to justify going for the upgrade, generally speaking.

Score: 83

Musical Evocation: Dissection - "Elisabeth Bathori"

Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 2

I happened to be placing an order when they had some of this so I went for it because batch 1 was so good. I happened to have some Batch 1 still around, so figured it would be fun to note a comparison while doing this review.

Kilkerran Heavily Peated Batch 2, Campbeltown Single Malt, 60.9% ABV

Minutia: Matured in 55% ex-Bourbon casks and 45% ex-Sherry casks, the same makeup as batch 1. Bottled in September 2019.

Color: Deep copper, 1.0.

Nose: Mouthwatering buttery shortbread type cookie very big at first. Getting past that there’s a funk that’s of a swirling nature, going between smoky, salty, chocolatey, and cheesy, and various combinations thereof.

Batch 1 is quite similar and less on that buttery cookie. The funk is a pretty stable earthy smoky funk.

Taste: Taste of funnel cake (without or with very little powdered sugar), smoke, hot feel, think. 

Batch 1 is similar, replace funnel cake with earthy. Batch 2 drinks at its ABV whereas 1 felt well below, though in a side by side having sipped the Batch 2 the Batch 1 feels hotter than it was on its own.

Finish: Spicy, salty, oaky. Medium-long to long. 

Batch 1 is less long, bit of an earthier quality. Saltier than I remember, possibly from Batch 2 influence. Not pure salt, there’s a bitterness to it.

I don’t know that I’d consider it part of the finish proper since it was so long after that typical “finish” sensation and felt like it came back after my palate went back to neutral for a while, but I was tasting that buttery cookie nearly an hour after a sip of Batch 2. It didn’t appear in the flavor in the way it did in the nose - it manifested as funnel cake there - and wasn’t really in the finish, but after a while I felt as if I’d recently eaten a cookie that tasted the way this smelled.

It was nice to do these together. The first dram I had left me feeling like it was quite far off from the first batch, but having them together, they really are quite similar. Batch 1 really moved me in a way this one didn’t as a whole, but some of the individual elements I liked more in Batch 2. That cookie in the nose is terrific, and Batch 1 only hints at it. It’s not constant in Batch 2, but when it’s there it’s there in a big way. And that phantom cookie recurrence really shifted my enjoyment of this up enough where it’s just shy of Batch 1 whereas without it I’d hold Batch 1 a clear notch above 2. Another great release by Kilkerran still leaving me as eager if not moreso to jump ahead to the time this becomes regular with a good amount of age.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Metallica – “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”

Bushmills 16

Around the time I decided to take a break from peat to let my tastes get back to normal I also got interested in trying some Irish whiskies I hadn’t had before. This was listed as a good one and wasn’t priced too high so I gave it a shot.

Bushmills 16, Ireland Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Aged in Oloroso Sherry, Bourbon, and Port casks. I’ve seen other bottles say the Port casks are used for finishing, but the label on my bottle only says matured in those three types of cask. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Auburn, 1.5.

Nose: Fruit(red/dark), Irish floralness, bit malty, tropical fruit.

Taste: Thin but rich, fruit, spice comes in.

Finish: Pretty long at 40%, medium-long overall. Spice kicks up big right away, and once it fades leaves a chocolate flavor.

I think this probably costs a bit more than it should (at least here in the US, I’m unsure if it’s any different over in Europe), but it’s nice. There’s nothing that really stands out, but nothing off-putting. Something non-whiskey drinkers are likely to enjoy/be able to handle, and something a whiskey drinker will find good when seeking something light and unchallenging but still interesting.

Score: 79

Musical Evocation: Tormentor – “Elizabeth Bathory”

Kilkerran 8 Cask Strength

I finally stumbled across a sample of this while placing an order, something I had been hoping to find since enjoying Kilkerran Heavily Peated and the 12. Pretty highly regarded, let’s see how I liked it.

Kilkerran 8 Cask Strength, Campbeltown Single Malt, 55.7% ABV

Minutia: Bottled in 2017 after maturing in Bourbon casks for a 9000 bottle batch. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Smoke, oak, farmy. Malty, vanilla/caramel. The farmy note is more like grove/orchard/floral than farm. Delightful chocolate after a bit.

Taste: Sweet, woody, smoky, salty, nutty.

Finish: Toffee, smoke, malt.

This is strong, but that comes with flavor. 

Score: 87

Musical Evocation: Alien Weaponry – “Kai Tangata”

Springbank 15

After not finding the 12 Cask Strength all that appealing, a number suggested the 15. As much as I enjoyed the 10 I had intended to eventually, but on that explicit recommendation and seeing it available as a 60ml sample when placing an order, I went for it and put it right toward the top of my list of samples.

Springbank 15, Campbeltown Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Enjoyed neat in a glencairn. It rested maybe 10 or 15 minutes but not deliberately.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Rich fruit, smoke, earthy, seaweed. Nutty/molasses later.

Taste: Honey, bready, clove, smoky. Gets creamy feeling after a bit, sweetens, spices. Nuttiness comes through on taste after it appears in the nose.

Finish: Spiced fruit, smoke, oak, dry. Long.

Oh boy. This is terribly expensive in the US relative to European sites. It’s a home run at the European price, and honestly worth considering at the exorbitant price here in the states (for context, from Europe this would cost me as much as the 10 would locally). If I’m placing an order and this is in stock, I’m adding it to the cart. For you Europeans, I’m not sure it’s quite worth twice as much as the 10, but it’s a major step up. It’s very strange as I wasn’t completely blown away, but it is an absolute delight to drink. I’ve got a rum wood sample of the same age in my advent calendar box, I really hope that makes it into this year’s batch because I’m very keen on having more like this. Springbank (/Longrow/Kilkerran) continues to give Ledaig a run for its money as my favorite distillery (/brand), and with this I think it might have pulled even, where I suspect they will remain in each other’s company for so long as I enjoy whisky.

Score: 91

Musical Evocation: Bathory – “The Woodwoman”

Highland Park Freya

Not a ton to say about this. They had a sample when I was placing an order for other samples and a bottle. I’ve enjoyed Highland Park well enough, and have been surprisingly tickled by the lighter expressions, and I like Freya so I went for it.

Highland Park Freya, Island (Orkney) Single Malt, 51.2% ABV

Minutia: Matured for 15 years in first fill Bourbon casks, released in 2014 with 19,000 bottles produced. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amber, 0.7.

Nose: Very light. Vanilla, grapefruit (faint). A hoppy quality I’ve come to associate with lighter Highland Parks.

Taste: Honey, spicy, vanilla.

Finish: Dry, oaky, medium long.

So it’s not my favorite as I generally like a more smoky expression, but I am glad to have tried it. While it is and was far too expensive for what it offers, this is a light and bright and refreshing dram. Quite well suited to a warmer climate.

Score: 80

Musical Evocation: Glittertind – “Longships and Mead”

Cragganmore 12 Special Release 2019

I tried Cragganmore 12 when I was looking to take a break from peat, and had heard nice enough things that it fit the bill. I found it ok, but lacking some kind of punch. As a fan of peat, I felt it was the punch it needed, and some ABV over the measly 40% wouldn’t hurt. I liked that enough to take a shot on this after reading other notes here. After reviewing Caol Ila, Lagavulin, and Talisker Distillers Editions, I got the idea to revisit them in a side by side with their regular counterparts. Not wanting to spend the money on whole bottles of that when I’m overflowing my storage as is, I found the little “Classic Malts” sets of 20ml bottles and figured it would be a great way to do that without breaking the bank and eating up space at home. Fortunately for me, one of those packs included a tiny bottle of Cragganmore 12, and since my bottle of that is long gone I thought it would be fun to include a comparison in this review. So, here we go.

Cragganmore 12 Special Release 2019, Speyside Single Malt, 58.4% ABV

Minutia: Matured in refill American oak casks, this was a peated run of Cragganmore from when Diageo was worried about a drought on Skye compromising their stock of medium peated malt. That never came to be so they had the barrels and fortunately released them on their own instead of shipping them off the be blended. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn alongside the standard Cragganmore 12.

Color: Old gold, 0.6.

Nose: Malty and fruity, unmistakably like the standard 12. Little smoke if any, but coming back after nosing the 12 it’s there in a pretty big way. Kind of fun to see how differently things can be perceived under different circumstances.

Taste: Honey, that same Cragganmore malt that was in the nose, heat comes in and builds to wood and smoke.

Finish: Spicy smoke. Medium. After it’s mostly gone it’s a bit nutty.

At the end of the day, I’m glad I picked up this bottle. I liked it quite a bit more than the standard expression. I’m interested in trying a cask strength version of that without the peat to see how much of that difference is peat vs alcohol. I almost think it was a mistake to release this as going to the standard 12 after a sip of this, to my tastes it is outright boring, almost bordering on unpleasant. This drinks easily while still letting you know it’s there. It’s a nice dram to just have a glass of while lounging or spending time with friends.

Score: 83

Musical Evocation: Buckethead – “Ghost Host”

Ledaig 20 1997 Alexander Murray

When I saw a 20 year old Ledaig at Total Wine I was very intrigued, but it was a bit out of my budget, so every time I returned I’d just sigh and move on. Then my mother happened to get it for me as a gift and I couldn’t have been happier.

Ledaig 20 1997 Alexander Murray, Island (Mull) Single Malt, 50% ABV

Minutia: Not much info about it other than that it is cask strength. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Wants to be fruity at the beginning but that gets hidden by a smoky, dry, woody combo.

Taste: Spicy at first, some smoke, vegetal, earthy, dirty.

Finish: Long, dirty, menthol-like feel, goes “off” after quite a while.

I still don’t know exactly how much I like this. It’s rough around the edges, which I typically like, but I wish it were a little bit more rounded. What I can say for sure is this dram is dirty, and I think that’s what’s confusing me. Whatever might be knocking this down for me is held aloft by that dirtiness.

Score: 80

Port Askaig 19

Consensus seems to be that this one is a Caol Ila. I believe we know Port Askaig has been Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain, and I know I saw somewhere that they confirmed a third source distillery without disclosing which one, but that was well after this was released. It’s a pretty atypical age, being the first 19 year old I’ve reviewed, so I’m curious how it is and compares to regular Caol Ila and my well-faded memories of the 18.

Port Askaig 19, Islay Single Malt, 50.4% ABV

Minutia: Depressingly little information about the production other than it being a single malt from Islay, almost certainly distilled by Caol Ila and aged for 19 years. I’ve not found anything about casks type or vintage. Probably ex-Bourbon if I had to guess. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amber, 0.7.

Nose: Salty, mineraly fruit, more woody than smoky.

Taste: Surprisingly mild, light, a bit sweet, some spice.

Finish: Smoke comes in, pretty big but nothing like a peaty beater. More spice, salty ash.

This gets better from nose to taste to finish. The biggest difference is after the nose, it’s a bit decent but ok in the nose, then while the taste is light it is quite nice. The finish is a nice surprise where the smokiness expected of an Islay finally comes in. A solid dram.

Score: 87

Bunnahabhain Staoisha 4 2014 Signatory Vintage

I got this to continue trying more peated Bunnahabhains as they’ve yet to disappoint. I don’t know how old the NAS distillery bottlings are, but I believe they at least contain casks older than this, so something 4 years old is rather interesting. Aside from Wee Beastie, Octomore’s the only whisky I’ve seen giving such low age statements, I’m happy to be seeing the transparency with youth and lack of fear that anything young will be poorly regarded.

Bunnahabhain Staoisha 4 2014 Signatory Vintage, Islay Single Malt, 60.3% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 20, 2014, matured in what the label calls a dechar rechar hogshead for 4 years and bottled on April 1, 2019 as one of 290 bottles. Enjoyed neat it a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Salty, seafood smoke, brown sugar, something in the nut family. Socks, but not bad.

Taste: Peaty/smoky, spice/heat.

Finish: Earthy, hot, dry, long. Weird bit.

This is overall better than the individual notes suggest, they go well together. It’s a bit young in that even though the aromas and flavors work together, they aren’t quite married. I’d really like some well-aged peated Bunnahabhain.

Score: 84

Bunnahabhain 29 1989 Càrn Mòr

Another birth year bottle I’ve acquired, I took the advice I got from the other one and bottled some in Boston rounds to compare 5, 10, etc. years down the road. This is the second of five birth year bottles in the cycle to have a dram annually and compare every 5 years with a tiny bottle poured fresh. A really interesting situation of a cask strength bottling being at 40%. Makes a bit of sense given the 29 years in a cask, and I wonder if they only bottled it because it was about to become useless (well, require blending with something higher proof).

Bunnabhain 29 1989 Càrn Mòr, Islay Single Malt, 40% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on October 23, 1989, matured 29 years in a hogshead until being bottled by Morrisson and MacKay with an outturn of 170 bottles on April 29, 2019.

Color: Deep gold, 0.8.

Nose: Fruit of the apple/kiwi/tropical family. Elderflower water.

Taste: Same type of fruit/flower but less potent, tiny bit of spice. Malty/hoppy.

Finish: Bit of spice, picks up, hoppy/bittery. Hoppy/malty becomes an intense, rich chocolate. Lasts ages.

Finish had way more staying power than I expected. I’d guess it’s a testament to the spirit naturally evaporating to 40% rather than having water added do that and dilute any of the character. I’ve never had a dram as chocolatey as the finish of this one. 

Score: 90

Octomore 10.4

I’m glad I found a sample of this, I was interested in trying something so young and that only saw virgin casks, particularly the cask bit. 

Octomore 10.4, Islay Single Malt, 63.5% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 2016, matured for 3 years in heavy toast French Linousin virgin oak casks until bottling on July 18, 2019. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnt umber, 1.7.

Nose: Funky Octomore peat, intensely meaty/barbecue smoke. Much heavier on meat/barbecue spice than the smoke.

Taste: Woody, smoky, spicy. Reminds a lot of a kangaroo jerky.

Finish: Dry, peaty/earthy, as spices fade over a long finish.

Amazing nose, incredibly savory and mouthwatering. I’m going to be trying real hard to justify getting a bottle shipped to me. This is right up my alley.

Score: 94

Musical Evocation: Led Zeppelin – “Achilles Last Stand”

Longrow 21

I was really looking forward to this after Longrow 18 became probably my favorite expression that sees (at least somewhat) regular release. A few more years has to be good, too, right?

Longrow 21, Campbeltown Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: This particular batch consists of 60% Sherry casks and 40% Bourbon casks. Bottled October 2, 2019. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet Muscat, 1.3.

Nose: This is like putting your nose in the glass when pouring it, something the 18 did as well. Fruity, bit of smoke, mineral/salt. It’s a pleasure just nosing this.

Taste: Very strong strawberry immediately, then smoke, then spice, then all together.

Finish: Dry, smoky, menthol feeling. Gets”dirty”.

This is really nice, I wish I had a bottle. I did like the 18 a bit more, though. The finish was strong but the weakest part of it, just speaks to how good the nose and taste are.

Score: 91