Really quite nice, but fails to live up to the nose. Not because of anything bad, the nose is just that good. It’s pretty much what you want from a peated and Sherried whisky.
This is one I was really looking forward to. In addition to just knowing I’ve enjoyed peat and Port/red wine, the fact that one of the best regarded releases also saw time in Port casks made it all the more appealing. I had my hopes tempered as encore releases are rarely as good as the first one, but still was looking forward to it. Anyway, finally got around to it a bit late, and have the 2021 planned shortly enough where it might still be relevant, and I can review the 2022 when it releases and actually help people decide whether to buy it when it’s on normal shelves.
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port & Wine Casks, Islay Single Malt, 52% ABV
Minutia: Matured in 2nd fill ex-Ruby Port barriques and ex-bourbon barrels, and finished in red wine casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages. So many comments about how great this is, plus the fact that I simply love Laphroaig, left me pretty eager. I grabbed a bottle, and before even trying it based on reviews I picked up another when it happened to be on a local shelf. As has happened with so many whiskies I’ve bought, it ended up behind others already owned in line and sometimes even got leapfrogged as I work to get my temporally relevant reviews caught up, but finally it got it’s chance to shine. Did it?
Nose: Smoke with a medicinal twinge. Mostly industrial, tar/blacktop, but definite fruit. All behind a musty overlay.
Taste: Big oak, spice, dry smoke. Chemical.
Finish: Musty smoke. Oak. Salt.
Classic Laphroaig. A lot to like. Tastes great, but the nose is the star of the show. Very happy I trusted you fine people and grabbed that second bottle.
The second of the Cairdeas releases I’ve tried after the 2017 Cask Strength Quarter Cask which I enjoyed a ton. That seems to be one of the less appreciated of them and people told me that if I liked that I’d really like some of the other releases so I picked this up at a shop when I saw it there.. I’ve seen mixed reviews on this between OK and great, and my familiarity with Fino casks is limited only to the Oban Distillers Edition which was a pour at a bar so I didn’t know entirely what to expect.
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2018 Fino Cask Finish, Islay Single Malt, 51.8% ABV
Minutia: Matured in 1st fill ex-bourbon casks and finished in ex-Fino casks, bottled at 51.8% to commemorate its release in 2018. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.
Nose: Starts oaky vanilla into medicinal smoke. The medicinal element is slight, at least for Laphroaig. You have to find it a bit rather than it’s usual boisterous presence. The smoke is far more in the leather/tobacco/vegetation family. Coastal air, not on the beach, or even adjacent, but a mile or so inland. Stone fruit syrup and creamy citrus notes come in revisiting after having had a sip.
Taste: Woody, light wine. Iodine. That’s really all I could pick out, but it’s bigger than just those notes suggest.
Finish: Musty, dry, then smoke. Big, tarry, ashy smoke. Not a complete explosion of it, but it really announces itself after a few seconds. An indiscriminate sweetness, perhaps a roasted nut which is sweet. Just shy of medium length.
Damn, I really like this. I was in love from the first whiff. I really regret not trying this sooner so I could have gotten a few more at MSRP. Based on how much people enjoyed it, I’m grateful took some user’s advice here about the Triple Wood Cairdeas to buy two if a shop had it. I have so much whisky to try I expect to have caught up with the Cairdeas releases at or around the time next year’s gets released so hopefully this doesn’t happen again.
I saw this was the Laphroaig they had at a bar and I haven’t had the opportunity to try any of the Cairdeas releases yet, so the start of a night before having anything else seemed a great opportunity.
Minutia: This was aged for over 5 years in 1st fill ex-Bourbon casks, then finished in American Oak quarter casks for about six months, but does not carry an age statement. It was enjoyed neat in a rocks glass at the George Washington Bar at Freehand in Manhattan on July 27, 2019 at about 9:30 PM. It rested about 5-10 minutes. The cost was $21.
Color: Pale wine or straw.
Nose: Meat, barbecue sauce. Bit of citrus, particularly orange. Cheesy funk akin to that of Bruichladdich.
Taste: Smoke, heat, sweat (a satisfying sweat, like your lip during/after a good workout, basically a taste of salt when your body wants salt).
Finish: Medium-long. Funk, medicinal/bandages, linger black/white pepper. Cheese also persists but fades more quickly than the pepper.
I was actually kind of wowed by this. This was my first exposure to Laphroaig other than the 10, at least as well as I can remember. I immediately felt it was one of the better whiskies I’ve had. I went back and checked some reviews here and a consensus looks like this is one of the lesser Cairdeas releases. If that’s true I really want to try those others.
