Distillery: Laphroaig
Age: ~9 Years Old
Cask: 1st-fill Bourbon, finished in Amontillado Hogsheads
ABV: 51.4%
More Info: WhiskyBase
You’ve probably seen this one around – that bright yellow tin is hard not to notice!
Released for Feis Ile 2014, this bottling is released with no age statement but widely believed to have spent eight years in first fill Bourbon and a further one year in Amontillado sherry casks.
Nose: Wood-smoked cashew nuts, grapefruit juice, roast chicken crisps, marker pens, flint and coal dust.
Palate: Sweet and mouthcoating, then a whoosh of astringent coal tar soap leaving tangy sweet oranges, lemon throat sweets, warm honey and lingering peat.
Finish: Warm and comforting with a creamy, smoky ash.
This is a cracking dram, hands down. All that midwinter fireplace character you expect, but the Amontillado brings some interesting sweet notes instead of the usual vanilla flavour you get with the ten year old. No water needed either – it’s perfect as it is.
You can still get this for reasonable prices, and with an out-turn of 28,000 bottles it’s not too hard to find. Some online stores are charging over £100, but I picked up a bottle at auction for about £60 so it’s worth shopping around.
