Tastes

* My bottle. Barreled: 11.11.08, barrel no.193, bottled: 7.12.16 Nose: Up-front an almost sherry-like aroma with a touch of vanilla, but not too heavy. As that is penetrated menthol appears to cool things down and liven up the show. There is oak in the background, cedar cigar-box, liquorice and anise. Palate: A firm arrival that is spicy and almost drying but nicely balanced by the inherent sweetness of corn. A little ginger and some not-too-sweet honey - or maybe beeswax? A touch of brine. There's a Jamaica rum note in there as well along with some leather and oak. Finish: Medium, with a woody, cereal and warm spicy character. It fades out on the salty note, although a hint of that sherry-like presence lingers on for a long time. For me this is reminiscent of a Speyside single malt profile (maybe a Speyside finished in wet bourbon barrels?). Nicely balanced and eminently drinkable with more complexity than I had expected. A dash of water opens it up a bit, but it's so velvety and elegant neat it seems a shame to bruise it. I didn't get much of the fruit mentioned in the official tasting notes here, perhaps a raisin or sultana note. Thankfully, it is free of the heavy molasses and vanilla baggage of some bourbon. The dry glass has a slightly smoky brown sugar aroma. As this is the only expression I've tried I can't make comparisons with previous years, however I found this most enjoyable and eminently drinkable. Bear in mind that I usually stick to Scottish single malts, so I may be looking for characteristics in a bourbon that match my preferences. I'll happily make room in the cupboard for this, and at the asking price it is very good value. The official rating here of 96 sounds like an overly generous score to me. Recommended, and exceptional value for money. "Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)

Nose: A light cereal/gristy nose with the emphasis on bready and floral notes. Nutty, mildly herbaceous and grassy with the lightest touch of lemon, pineapple and mint. A barely discernible ethanol aroma. As it opens it gains a little fullness and you can just make out some oak. Palate: A soft and smooth arrival featuring barley and other cereal flavours. Crisp and fresh. This carries on into the development which doesn't add much, apart from white grape juice and a little gingery/lemon spiciness. There is a very nice mouth-coating oiliness and a touch of honey in the late development. Finish: Short. Citrus and cereal flavours leading into a sweet but tart finale, like bittersweet lemon drops. Surprisingly enjoyable. It's a lightweight to be sure, but it isn't ashamed of itself and struts its cereal-centric personality with aplomb. In some ways I prefer it to the older brother 12 year old, which is very buttery and vanilla. Here you find an exuberant, youthful spirit begging to be appreciated for what it is. A dash of water makes the nose a little deeper but loses the cereal freshness. It muddies the palate and frankly spoils it, turning the lemon into sour lemon zest. I'd recommended taking this neat (however it does make a very nice highball and is a good mixer in general, the lemon/cereal personality balancing sweet soft drinks). At the price it is remarkably good value. In Australia it's $42 which makes it a competitor against the lower-middleweight blended whiskies, and it more than punches at its weight. No great classic, not a huge personality, but no real flaws either. In many ways it's comparable to Macallan Gold - less fully featured for sure, but also way less than half the price. A very acceptable budget sipping whisky for summer. "Average" : 78/100 (2.75 stars)

Nose: Sherry and oak are the immediate impressions, not surprisingly. Orange peel, a little vanilla. Some light ginger-pepper spiciness. It's what I think of as a good standard sherried nose but not a sherry bomb. Palate: A light arrival - juicy and a little spicy with fruit and sherry flavours. It expands in the development with oak and malt coming to the foreground with quite a lot of gingery spice. A rich palate but not too sweet, it's dry and juicy which is a good combination. Clean and creamy malt. Some subtle warm spices (ground ginger, allspice) and a little nuttiness. It gathers strength and there is a warming rush in the late development. Finish: Surprisingly long, with sherry and oak being the final memories. Not a sherry-bomb, more like sherry-cordite. This is a crisp and clean whisky, with clearly defined aromas and flavours. It's not complex but delivers its straight-forward character in a precise and honest fashion. It reminds me a little of GlenDronach 12 year "Original", although that whisky has more up-front oakiness, but both are strongly cask-driven. This is also a little more dry, but both stand as great representative sherried whiskies. It's not my favourite style, but it is done well here with a classic fruity nose, malty cereal palate and woody finish. A dash of water broadens the nose and brings out a little hint of honey, but robs it of the punch it has when neat. It's a coin-toss whether it's an improvement or not. On the palate, water brings out some sweetness but doesn't contribute much more. I'd recommend taking this one neat. This is well crafted whisky and I agree with the official notes here that it would make an admirable aperitif, particularly on a chilly evening when the warming quality would be lovely. "Very Good" : 86/100 (4 stars)

Nose: Sweet sherry, spicy over-ripe oranges, rose-hip tisane, rockmelon, sandalwood, vanilla, caramelized apples sprinkled with cinnamon, barley sugar. Palate: A rich and velvety soft arrival, honeyed but with a little balancing oak dryness. Lots of different fruits, led by blood oranges, dates, caramelized figs, sweet apples, sultanas, apricots, black cherries and cranberries. Raspberry jam. As the development continues there is a PX sherry note and then rich Christmas fruit cake makes an appearance. A handful of subtle spices (cinnamon, clove, cardamom, caraway) in the background of the fruitcake with some mixed peel and almonds. Very full and mouthcoating. This is a seriously nice fruity palate. Finish: Medium-long, fruity and sugary sweet. Almonds and hazelnuts in the end. Lingering and very enjoyable. Similar in many ways to Macallan Amber (unsurprisingly) but with a lot more depth and maturity. You need to taste all the 1824 series in order to appreciate how they escalate in quality. In my opinion the spirit is identical but the better expressions receive longer maturation in increasingly better casks, with an also increasing input of first-fill. For example, the palate here has a strong berry and rich fruit profile rather than the lighter citrus/tropical palate of the Amber expression, or the very light and dry citrus of the Gold. Also, the fruitcake flavours in the palate are richer and appear more gradually here, whereas in the Amber they jump at you suddenly and are not as developed, and in the Gold they are barely formed and more like yeasty bread. It's quite a sweet profile overall but never cloying and without even a suggestion of bitterness or sourness. A satisfying and approachable whisky and a fine example of modern Macallan style at its most successful. Like the Amber expression, this sings a song of summer to me, a performance to enjoy at dusk on a balmy evening. "Very Good" : 86/100 (4 stars)

Nose: Sultanas, oranges, sherry, vanilla, lemon oil, hints of pineapple, something spicy (maybe ground cinnamon?), old paper. Fairly fresh and fruity overall. Palate: Pleasantly dry on the arrival and into the development, but no hint of bitterness or sourness at any stage. Sherry and fruit are the initial flavours. The development brings a sweeter note and suddenly a most unexpected wave of rich sherried fruit cake with sweet preserved citrus peel, glacé cherries and almonds. Quite delicious. It's not a complex palate, just a few key flavour components, but they combine into a very pleasant whole. A good texture, if a little thin. Finish: Quite short, turning sweet and more like bread and butter pudding, dried fruits, a little sour/bitter hint of grapefruit, which is quite nice, and a lingering touch of aniseed or fennel. There is an unmistakable kinship between this and the Gold 1824 expression, but Amber is a definite step up. Richer overall with the fruitiness being more sweet/tropical instead of bright and bracing. The cereal notes are deeper as well, being more like cake than biscuits. I think the basic distillate is probably the same but just given different wood treatment. This is fairly cask-driven, but subtle about it. It's just coming into summer here and the day is clear and warm - this whisky suits it perfectly. Tasted from a 30ml sampler - I may buy a bottle and it would sit on the shelf next to Arran Lochranza Reserve and Compass Box Asyla. "Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Nose: Citrus, lemon zest, grapefruit juice, cereals - this is a very bright nose. A little hint of malt and oak and some vanilla, but the citrus washes over everything. Curiously, the dry-glass aroma is full of honey with not a trace of citrus. Palate: A soft but mildly tannic arrival that develops into a palate dominated by citrus flavours, particularly lemon zest. There is a mix of inherent sweetness and oak tannin and it's hard to decide whether it gives balance or is just an odd combination. There are some subtle cereal flavours in the background that are emphasized slightly by water. Finish: Medium. More lemon and a flor-yeast flavour, it's bread-like and drying. It seems short at first but lingers. I found this more interesting than enjoyable as it's not a style of whisky I particularly like. A teaspoon of water improves the nose, giving it breadth and making it less strident - quite pleasant and almost fruity-floral, in fact. Unfortunately, water does not improve the taste as much. Some extra notes are revealed, but mostly it just dilutes it and eventually makes it fall apart. If this was bottled at higher proof and could take the water more gracefully the palate might fare much better with dilution, allowing some desperately needed complexity to emerge from the cereal component. I tasted it from a 30ml sampler and have no desire to purchase a bottle, particularly considering the price. However it is well made and better than average - just quirky. "Above Average" : 80/100 (3 stars)

Nose: Smoke, oak and a host of warm sawdust aromas combine seamlessly to create an elegantly sophisticated nose that is more than the sum of its parts. Suggestions of vanilla, honey, brine, iodine, seaweed, black tea, grapefruit, leather, moist earth (dunnage earth) and ground spices. The distinctive Laphroaig "hospital antiseptic" aroma has muted with age to create a smoky creosote background. In combination it's like a display of polished amber presented on black velvet. With time in the glass the nose gains even greater depth and coherence. Give it at least 15 minutes before tasting and keep nosing all the time. Palate: After the delicacy of the nose, the palate comes as a slight surprise - this whisky is by no means aged and infirm. The arrival is well defined, smoky, slightly dry and a little spicy. In the development it becomes spicy, nutty and creamy. The palate is full of sweet smoke with nuances of tar, bitter lemon, vanilla, avocado and honey - similar to the nose but in a more authoritative form. The spice that appears in the development stays through into the finish. It is warming and soothing on the throat. Finish: Long and lingering, spicy, a good saltiness and just the faintest hint of the trademark Laphroaig licorice. The licorice remains, and is the final flavour, along with a slight bittersweet tang of 90% dark chocolate, a touch of mint, and quite a bit of smoke. A really satisfying finish and aftertaste This whisky has a very nice texture that is both mouth-coating and dry, and 48% abv is perfect to carry it. The critical factor with enjoying it is time - you need to dedicate at least an hour to the dram. Patience. Any comments that this whisky is lacking in peat smoke are, IMHO, based on hurried tastings. It is delicious neat and the only reason to add water is to enjoy a slightly different profile, but please don't drown it, I beg you - just a couple of drops. This enhances both the nose and palate without changing them substantially - everything gains a little fullness, the spice and sweet notes seem to weld together and the smoke is ... well, "blown around in the glass" is the only way I can put it. Not amplified exactly, but uplifited as if by a breeze. This is an excellent whisky that is sadly just about unavailable (I happened to obtain a bottle by chance recently, and I don't know if there is any left in the country now). I certainly hope that in a few years, if their stocks have built up, Beam Suntory will issue another Laphroaig 18 as good as this. "Excellent" : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

Nose: At first encounter the nose seemed to be more like a Springbank than than a Longrow. There was a little vanilla, malted barley, a soft briny maritime note, some leather armchair but only a faint sooty smoke. There was also a definite earthy aroma from the dunnage and some woody hints like old cigar boxes. Over time the aromas evolved and melded together and light honey and dried fruit aromas (apples, pears, prunes) appeared. A deep, enveloping, oaky smokiness gradually emerged to eventually present what is probably the most elegant and sophisticated smoky nose I’ve experienced. A calm, soft, huge and fragrant smoke that makes anything issuing from the Hebridean islands seem brash and callow. Palate: A soft and slightly briny arrival, which became saltier and quite spicy in the development. Ginger, but not fresh ginger - more like powdered ginger. Very lightly oily, but not mouth-coating, and also slightly dry. Light fruity notes, but again not fresh juicy fruit - older, like dried fruits soaked in water to reconstitute for cooking. Once again over time the palate opened and gained considerable polish, eventually becoming broad, rich and mellow. The whisky seemed to just float into the mouth and gradually inhabit the whole head, becoming the focus of all one’s attention. Finish: Medium, ginger spice - even peppery. A little sour salt and a hint of smoke or ash at the fade-out with just the perfect amount of sweetness to balance the briny and sour notes. This review compiles notes from many tastes of batches over the last decade and is a summary of my final impressions. This whisky is both subtle and tightly wrapped and it requires a couple of weeks to wake up after initial opening, and 20 minutes rest in the glass with a couple of drops of water is strongly recommended. The first time I tasted it I was not that impressed with Longrow 18, but it was my palate that was lacking - not the whisky. Over time I came to fall in love with its charms and appreciate its blossoming as it opens up from its long slumber in the bottle. I consider it, and particularly the most recent batches, to be just a hair's breadth away from faultless. It is characterful, satisfying, mellow and smooth with endless layering and depths as great as the sounding seas. Truly a top shelf dram. There have been three changes to the label over the years: The first, from 2008-2010 was a blueish purple label. The second, from 2011-3013, was a yellow-beige label, and the current batches have a white label with a prominent “18” in purple. There are slight batch variations but they are subtle changes of profile and not big differences in quality. That said, for me the current releases are the best it has ever been. “A bat's squeak away from perfect” : 92/100 (5 stars)

Scotland, September 2017. Distillery tasting. Nose: Light smoke, fruity and floral notes. An elusive earthy aroma like blue cheese, oak, caramel, vanilla and a maritime presence. The dry glass smells smoky and medicinal. Palate: A blanket of smoke on the delivery. The development has coffee, dark fruit and sweet spices. The texture is good. Finish: Medium. Ashy smoke, spicy and dry with mild fruit notes. When we tried this at the distillery we thought it was very agreeable. We tasted it immediately following Scapa Skirin and it was obviously the same malt profile but with a light layer of peat smoke. The peat smoke did seem a little unusual, however. Not bad, just unusual, and it was not quite the same as the smoke on whisky produced from peated grain. I liked it enough to find a bottle when we returned to Australia but sadly it was rubbish and nothing at all like the distillery tasting. I can only assume it was a bad bottle (loose cork or something) as it had virtually no nose or palate - it was like a whisky that had been diluted with neutral spirit. I'm basing the rating here on the distillery tasting. "Good" : 83/100 (3 stars)

Nose: Nosing it neat the first thing I noticed was a big oily, herby, smoky cloud of peat. No surprises there. After the first wave of smoke I got honey notes, a touch of citrus fruit, and faint spices (caraway, cardamom, fennel and anise). A distant rubbery note as well. It produces a wall of further smoky, peaty aromas when diluted. Palate: Tasted neat there is a surprisingly soft and fruity arrival that is then borne aloft on a cushion of smoky peat the size of Islay itself. A rich, sweet character with hints of berries, oranges and honey. Also a little lemony citrus. Surprisingly, it's a fairly simple palate that is dominated by this handful of powerful flavours. The texture is pleasantly oily, which balances the drying nature of the strong alcohol content well, but it is still hot on the tongue and it all seems curiously tight and hard to access. That's not an unusual thing with high-proof whisky, but this one seems particularly restrained. Finish: Predictably long, fruity and spicy. The sweet smoke reasserts itself and eventually fades as the final note. It's only after a while that you realize how smoky and peaty this really is. A pleasant enough experience but while there are some nice moments it's far from being the best Octomore I've tasted. For a big hefty bruiser of a whisky it’s prissy about getting its toes wet. It needs water in order to bloom and release all the locked up berry and grape flavours and aromas, but it is very fussy about dilution. If you get the amount of water perfect it suddenly springs to life and there is a flood of fruity goodness to enjoy, however if you add just one drop too much it just as suddenly turns flat, dusty, and dull. It’s worth tasting for the experience, but I wouldn’t recommend buying a whole bottle. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)