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)”