Tastes

Twin wood is well named because I really get two provinces of flavors that get married really nicely. The nose has a really rich quality of caramel and cocoa, dark fruits, but also a bit of biting herbaceous astringency. Entry is honey sweet with melon, followed by lemon, grassy, mint, mineral water, black pepper. Then the finish is back to rounded earthier flavors like chocolate and coffee. The best summation of the experience is like a salted dark chocolate and a dried cranberry consumed at the same time. Very enjoyable.

Barrel 6115, bottled at 51.2%. Finished in ex-Rye cask for 1 year 7 months. Bottled for the NH state liquor commission. Hugely aromatic with earthy spices: cumin, pepper, aniseed, but then sweeter molasses, syrup, and butter Fairly gentle entry for the proof. Sweet banana bread, butter, brown sugar, clove, pepper. Long and warm finish with the sweet-hot chili flavors and bready sweetness hanging around.

N: grain forward, oatmeal, orange, ginger, powdered sugar. P: Sweet, bready, tart fruit, slight bitterness, honey, rose hips, syrupy. F: easy finish, low burn for the proof. It's an improvement ovrr the small batch, but I think Knappogue and Red Breast are better options at this price point.

Rich buttery nose, cinnamon, honey, toast, vanilla, glazed bun. Entry on the palate is sweet with brown sugar and honey, then spicy with cinnamon and pepper, slight black coffee bitterness. Relaxed finish, warming, good balance of classic bourbon notes.

"The One" picked for Julio's Liquors in Westboro, MA. OBSQ recipe, Aged 9 years 7 months, bottled at 58.6%, Warehouse TN, Barrel 36-3M. N: Ginger, cinnamon, brown sugar, sourdough yeastiness, sharp rye intensity. P: Definitely needs a splash of water to open up at this proof with the high rye mashbill. Lots of cinnamon, licorice, chili flake, some doughy pastry. After the initial spicy entry, fairly quiet. Not as vanilla and molasses forward as the lower rye recipe. F: some oak barrel presence, more of the familiar spices, still burns pretty hot after dilution. I'd be interested to try an "E" recipe at barrel strength. The OBSQ really takes your head off at this proof. Even with the water, I can't say I prefer this over the standard Single Barrel. The $30 premium for this private selection makes it more of a crap shoot.

The fino sherry cask finish is gilding the lily on the classic Laphroiag profile, which is ironic because it does add some floral and herbal qualities. Basically my take is that it's subtraction by addition, adding notes that clash with what's good in the original character. N: Salt spray, ash, pipe smoke, but also a floral sweetness. P: Mineral, creosote, bitter and sharp notes like you'd find in amaro or gin: anise, rhubarb, peppercorns. Slightly tannic and tart cherries. F: pretty standard Laphroiag, coating smoke, charred meat, salt. It's interesting, it just pulls in two wildly different directions and distracts from what I like in the 10 year.

I had a unique opportunity to try 2018-03 alongside the 04 batch. I ordered a 2 oz pour, and the bar just finished the last ounce of 03 and poured a measure of 04 in a separate glencairn. It might be purely the power of suggestion but I feel like I can taste the additional months in the barrel. In spite of the 04 bottle being newly cracked, it is mellower and sweeter, rounded and richer than the younger, peppery 03. N: Maple syrup and buttered toast, licorice, peanut butter, vanilla, roasted nuts. P: Pecan pie, ice cream, anise, raisins, Graham crackers. F: long, sweet, tannic barrel notes, molasses.

N: Pulling the cork, and before I can even pour it in a glass, there's a big aroma of butterscotch candy. Given a little time in a glencairn, I get applebutter, burnt sugar, and subtle peat in the form of a little cigar smoke. P: Very rich dessert flavors of fruit pies, toffee, peppermint bark. There is some cinnamon and ginger spiciness. F: Sweet, rich, and slightly fatty smokiness of candied nuts. If you wanted creme brulee with the toasted sugary crust, but didn't know how to cook, this would be a reasonable substitute.

This is one that needs a little while in the glass and a small splash of water to open it up. N: Cakey dessert qualities up front: Chocolate shavings, frosting, maple. Then the more familiar clove, cinnamon, and pumpernickel. P: Sweet, slightly spicy entry. Pretty straightforward compared to the nose. Buttery pancakes and syrup after the initial pepper and cinnamon. F: long, slow, and spicy.

N: In spite of the abundant fruit aromas, there is a spiky salty backbone to this nose, like capers or oysters. P: initial entry is sweet with cherries and fruitcake, but lemon peel, seaweed, and mineral water cut through those richer notes. Then there are a few hints of dark chocolate and cinnamon. F: a little salty, a little sweet... complex. Like Kilkerran, I find this Campbeltown malt to be really intriguing and not easily classified.