Laphroaig 16 Year

Back to the old hometown for some family celebrations. Staying at a friends house, and being a whisky enthusiast himself, offered freely access to his collection. This and the Sherry Oak immediately caught my eye. Being the eldest, I figure to start with this 16 year old. C: Golden yellow in appearance. N: Start with a base aroma of iodine, rubber tire bicycle tube, add Granny Smith apples, brown sugar, and ocean sea spray; that is the initial introduction. As is it opens, it grows sweeter and earthy. Tanned Leather or suede, hay, mulch, dried oak leaves. P: The brininess carries over onto the palate over a medium dense body. There is a peppery bite on the tongue that keeps things vibrant. The palate senses so much but is overloaded and the mind works to discern. Oak, vanilla, caramel, cocoa, hickory smoked bacon, grilled pineapple, almonds with a fade to the metallic. F: The finish is somewhat lengthy and in this case, that’s a good thing. Cigar tobacco coats the mouth. Wood tannins keep it dry. Milk chocolate and some sweetness with some black tea and honey. O: A Laphroaig is always a good pour. Flavorful, intense, punchy. Dynamic. It does sip as a more youthful whisky than a slower, mature whisky than I would expect from a 16. As with most Laphroaigs, reasonably priced with high quality. An enjoyable dram. [88/100][Tasted: 6/29/23]

Nose: vanilla, smoke, slight salinity. Hard to get a nose out of a rocks glass. Musty Peat comes in here too. Palate: beautiful, immediate punch of peat, opens up into some floral elements and a nice salinity. Vanilla and oakiness. A bit of crystaline brown sugar. A bit of dark ripe fruit, a brightness and citrus comes through too. As you sit with it the floral notes come out way more. Finish: phenolic, medicinal, a bit of wood.

Peat forward, but sadly missing compelxity

Let’s not muck about, Laphroaig is serious whisky. Tonight a limited edition expression released in mid-2021, matured for 16 years in American oak casks. Just my third Laphroaig I am excited coming off the heels of my worst scored distiller whisky tasting. N: Oh boy (the same words I opened Lore with)! Rich and captivating I am instantly pulled into the glass. Soft yet powerful the peat grabs hold with dark meatiness, slightly plastic iodine, and a handful of freshly torn herbs. Theres so much more to this though, a gentle sweetness of pastry and orchard fruit. Still more unfolds with an earthy petrichor and aged leathery oak. P: Oily and ashy texture laden with brine. Chilli and pepper beautifully compliment soft peat smoke, light malt and charred BBQ meat ends. A juicy mid profile delivers balancing fruit with chocolate creaminess filling the edges. The spirit lifts with a zesty, bright and borderline floral freshness. The maritime presence continues with a mineralic to metallic flutter. F: Medium-long. Stony minerals, brine, ashy embers and smoky black tea. There may even be a little honey or sugary flourish too. Wonderful. My faith in whisky was shook by my last entry, faith restored. This is undeniably good, does it have faults, perhaps. Does it lean slightly bitter and spicy, maybe. Am I qualified to judge them, I strongly suspect not. Less ‘raw’ than the standard 10 but slightly less refined than Lore, this comfortably sits as a slowly developing powerhouse of depth, subtlety, and richness. The smoky, meaty, and heavy sounding flavours somehow perform a masterstroke of remaining bright and vivid with an uplifting warmth. This is everything whisky should be, engaging and thought provoking. Textures, aromas, and flavours all combine to deliver a lovely treat on a chilly autumn evening. Distiller whisky taste #174 [Pictured here with a Eurypterid. This critter, also known as a sea scorpion, is from the Silurian (~440-420 Ma) Bertie Formation in New York. Eurypterids are an extinct group of organisms related to modern horseshoe crabs and include the largest known arthropods to have ever lived at up to 2.5 m long. Formidable predators of the shallow, warm, seas they called home they also possessed a dual respiratory system and may have been the planets first animals to crawl out of the oceans and onto the land. ] Laphroaig running scores: Laphroaig 10: 4/5 Laphroaig Lore: 4.5/5 Laphroaig 16: 4.25/5

Next up in my Laphroaig series, is a sample of the 16-year that was generously provided by @ctbeck11 The nose is soft and subtle starting with a mix of smoked salmon, grilled pineapple, honey lemon cough drops and leather-bound books then dark chocolate covered toasted almonds and freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by caramelized pears, nectarines and mildly sour cherries that transitions to mild baking spices, asphalt and polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy and slightly sour tropical fruits before a moderate spice that slowly fades to blonde espresso, smoked brisket and leather-bound books then dark chocolate with light sea salt, charred sourdough and freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by sautéed apples, nectarines and lemon zest that transitions to moderate baking spices, asphalt and mildly bitter black tea with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length, starting with sweet and slightly sour tropical fruits that fade to the background of tangy smoky meats, pipe tobacco, mild ocean brine, asphalt, leather-bound books and mildly bitter black tea. The nose is soft and subtle with those additional years in the casks taming those high smoke notes from the typical barbecue pit master opening their smoker to bask you in smoky glory into a mild and gentler smoked meat aroma that still maintains the dominant note but allows those mild sour citrus and polished oak notes to be able to provide a stronger impact. On the palate, the smoke comes through stronger than suggested on the nose with richer smoked meats that are still along the subtler side along with those sour tropical and citrus fruits that suffers from a higher spice than I prefer that throws off the balance and the oak veers towards a mildly bitter tea note that finishes with a mix of sweet and sour citrus that quickly fades to tangy meats, mild spices and black tea. After tasting the 15-year 200th Anniversary, I was eager to discover how a higher age statement with a 5% boost in ABV would impact the flavors of the 16-year and found that this is quite a delicious, well-crafted dram that I’d be happy to drink anytime but isn’t quite on par with the masterpiece of their 15-year 200th Anniversary as it isn’t as exceptionally balanced and the fruits lean heavier on the sour side which shows that older and higher ABV aren’t necessarily always going to be the better dram. At under $100 when these were released, I think these were a bargain to taste an older Laphroaig, but a quick search reveals that they have raised to around $150 today and I’d much rather just grab a bottle of Lore at a similar price that I find edges this one out. Ratings for the series so far: 10-year cask strength batch 11- 3.75 10-year sherry oak finish- 4.0 Lore- 4.0 2019 Caidreas Triple Wood- 3.75 2020 Caidreas Port and Wine - 3.75 2021 Caidreas PX - 4.0 15-year 200 Anniversary- 4.5 16-year- 4.0

Its got a lot going for it, strong honey presence on the nose and tongue. Not quite as smoky as other Laphroaig offerings. For being 16 years old and 48% its frankly a little weak tasting. Still great and preserves a lot of great flavor but its just very gentle as compared to their standard offerings and the time has not added much in the way of woody taste to it. Still good, the worst Laphroaigs are better than most other spirits but for the money you can you get much better.

Nose: Roasted nuts, peat Palate: Pancakes, vanilla pod, iodine Finish: Honey, coastal salinity, bonfire embers Quite sweet and smoky but not as tasty as Quarter Cask 7/10