Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength (Batch 12)

Open 14 months Nose - Burnt brisket ends, smoked malt, honeysuckle, light brine, ocean scented air freshener, cigar smoke, wet campfire ash, and medium ethanol. Palate - Charred oak chips, light honey, light butterscotch, toasted white bread, sea salt, and white pepper. Finish is long but incredibly ashy. This is where I heavily deduct the score. It is dry, spicy with loads of black pepper and smoke, grainy, piney, and lacking sweetness. I think this batch is a significant downgrade from Batch 011. While that was incredibly well-balanced between the peat, brine, spice, and sweet notes, this is really, really ashy on the back end. If not for that finish I'd rate it higher, but it drowns everything out and makes this a one glass and move on type of Scotch.

Nose: Earthy, coastal, smoky, malt and copper. Palate: Earthy, coastal, smoky, malty and metallic with some caramel and dried fruit. Finish: Long -> Sweet and smoky coastal.

Nose: Sweet peat, honey, vanilla, stewed fruits, baking spices, hints of briny salt and iodine. Stewed fruits has apples, pears, apricots and red bearies. Compared to batch 11, the floral and fruity scent is more pronounce due to the subdued iodine, and salt brine. Palate: Rich, peat smoke, saltwater, with malts. Sweet honey, vanilla, with stewed fruits. Long finish with baking spices vanilla, honey, leather, sweet tobacco, licorice and cardamom. Final Thoughts: Tasted this against batch 11 and prefer this slightly over batch 11. Both are wonderfully complex, but this batch seems a bit more balanced. Each sip reminds me of roasting marshmallows (semi-burnt), on a seaside beach, over a hickory wood campfire.

Batch 0012, bottled Feb 2020; 60.1%; 120.2 proof. N: Sugar cookie, vanilla frosting, sweet lemon cake. Cooked vegetables, cherry cola, cinnamon. Tropical notes of mango and a dash of pineapple. Earthy peat smoke with tar and fresh laid asphalt with some mint/menthol mixed in. Super balanced nose that gives you something new every time you dip into it. P: Rich and full vanilla cream, dark red fruit, spicy pepper and cinnamon. Bittersweet oak, which also adds some heat. More cooked vegetables. Sweet comes roaring back mid-palate with a rush of caramel, toffee, and cafe de olla (super sweet, spiced Mexican coffee). Finish brings the peat smoke with used tires, cigar ash, charred wood, burnt vegetables, and (finally) that classic Laphroaig medicine note (which is far more subdued here than in the standard 10 year). The sweet in the finish is straight up monkey bread (sticky brown sugar, cinnamon, biscuit dough). Good bit of oaky, cinnamon candy heat folds on top of that and closes it out. This is plain fantastic. I've shortchanged it, especially on the nose. This is relentless, just keeps coming. And it's delicious from start to finish. The medicine peat that Lap is so known for is milder here than in the standard 10 year - it's kinda perfect here, you get just enough to appreciate, but it's never overwhelming. Took me a while to find this - next time I see it, I buy two of them. Worth having this on hand at all times.