Laphroaig 15 Year Chieftain's (Ian Macleod)

This is a sample from independent bottler: Chieftan’s. It’s a 14 year old Laphroaig. It was sent to me as part of a trade from my new friend, @Richard-ModernDrinking. I believe it was pulled exclusively from ex-bourbon casks. It was bottled at 46% and is a beautiful, antique gold in the glass. It’s very oily with wide, undefined legs. The nose is typical Laphroaig smoke, band aids, briny and salty air with some very light oak barrel. The palate is smoky as hell with a nice, salty backbone. It’s oily with a thick mouth coat and just enough zip to keep you fully engaged. The finish is long, warm and crazy slick and oily. There’s a nice lingering effect that reminds me of some of the older, 10 year old distillery bottles. Overall, it’s classic Laphroaig. It’s like taking a trip to Islay before all the fancy finishing casks, NAS trickery or in-house blending. Just good, old fashioned smoke and medicinal whisky that only a true peat-head can appreciate. And appreciate it I do. Thanks again, Richard. 4 classic stars. Cheers.

Thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking, I got to sample a pour of this. As fiery and in-your-face is the Laphroaig 10, this is equally austere and refined. It’s muted in the intensity, but that’s not to be confused with dull. It’s replaced the brute force of a kick boxer to a more elegant beauty of a tai chi fighter. You still get the peat, the medicinal band-aids, and the brine...but it’s second fiddle to some oak, mesquite, and citrus. Nicely put together. Thanks Richard!

LAPHROAIG 15 CHIEFTAIN’S The received wisdom about introducing young folk into appreciation of whiskey is to start them off on blends and then let graduate to single malts. When they are old enough to enjoy this transition you let them in gently starting with the lowlands and slowly let them graduate to Islays. Never let a young person near a Laphroaig as it will put them off whiskey for good. ALL WRONG Most blends are hardly worth buying unless you just want to get pissed but there are many fine blends that should be enjoyed for their quality. Most but not all single malts are more complex and worth lingering over and also enjoyed for their quality often alone in front of a fire. Some Islays are easy on the palate in spite of their peatiness (although there are fine unpeated Islays) and should not be judged by Laphroaig 12 This brings me on to LAPHROAIG 15 CHIEFTAIN’S. It is dark and it smells like an delicate variety of Islay, more like an Ardbeg. Although 45% alcohol it is soft and smooth on the tongue. It is complex but not like medicinal iodine, more like the taste of BBQ sauce, rich and tasty. That however is the immediate effect it then has a long apres gout that tastes more of salted caramel. You could start anyone off on the magical whiskey trail of life with this one but I’d keep quiet if I was you as there will too little left for old codgers like me.

The latest Laphroaig from Chieftain’s is a 14-year-old bottled in January 2018, though it’s only one month short of its next birthday. The sparse information on the label says it was aged in hogshead barrels, which are usually made from ones that previously held bourbon, and is free from chill filtering and coloring. It’s from a single cask but bottled at 46% so presumably diluted from its natural strength. That reduced ABV probably accounts for the bargain price of $70, a steal for a teenage Laphroaig now that stocks of the 18 have run dry. I don’t buy independent bottlings often but at this price it was hard to resist. I’m glad I succumbed. It pours the color of amber resin and clings to the side of the glass with a pleasant oiliness. The nose is mesquite sauce and pine, a more typical signature than the fruit and flora of the 15-year-old anniversary edition from a couple of years ago. The palate is like a mellower version of the 10, smoother and less aggressive on the peat and not as “dirty” as the 18. The finish is long and sweet and triggered a Proustian memory of Old English Spangles, a boiled candy from my youth. This is an easy drinking Laphroaig that hits all the right notes without demanding too much of your attention. Normally I think 46 is about the perfect ABV for whisky but I wouldn’t mind tweaking this up a notch for intensity and to offset a hint of wateriness on the palette. That said, this is really good. Just think of it as pleasant background music rather than the rock concerts of the distillery bottlings.