Laphroaig 18 Year

When I first exploring whisky and getting into the nuances of aromas, flavors and learning more about regions and the varieties within the regions, I gravitated toward Islay produced scotch. The big three: Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Laphroaig were doing their thing and keeping it simple. NAS versus aged-stated whisky, non-chilled filtering were big debates and who was the best Islay. Variations were essentially limited but quality was high. All three produced exceptional product and prices were reasonable. I gravitated towards Laphroaig. Fast forward to today and the what do I see? Laphroaig by and large is holding steady with their range and producing quality at a reasonable price. Lagavulin has branched out extending their marketing with deals with Nick Offerman, but has largely kept to its standards. Ardbeg has, in my opinion, has gone balls out and anything it makes they label it and sell it, confusing the loyalists with noise. Too many offerings to count and high prices. Does this cheapen their good will/brand (I will leave this for debate but I have my opinion)? Where am I going with all this? This sample of Laphroaig 18 brings me back to that period of time with this sample from a long time back from Spirited Pied-piper @PBMichiganWolverine who benevolently shares and graciously provided me a sample that I will enjoy tonight. N: Unmistakable Laphroaig smokey sweetness immediately in your face. Not muscular or punchy but refined and sophisticated. Wonderful. An aroma that can be nosed all day. Iodine, lemonade, black tea, honey, apricots, shucked oysters, butterscotch, caramel apples, white pepper. The nose incorporates about every good quality of scotch. Visions of September oyster roast on warmed afternoon. P: Softly encroaching on the palate with a light and peppery bite. Irish and Lapsang souchong tea with honey. Smoked brisket with brown sugar bbq sauce provides briny, savory flavors that tends to water the mouth. Salted caramel in wrapped milk/dark chocolate. Almonds and oranges, cinnamon. As it opens, it the brown sugar intensifies, blissfully so. F: A long finish that you are glad that stays around as you want to keep all that goodness as long as possible. Charred oak, brown sugar that devolves to caramel over vanilla custard. Cigar tobacco ultimately remains on the palate indefinitely with the butterscotch sweetness. O: An amazing artistic expression. Perfect strokes of aromas and flavors. A Starry Night, a Madam Monet and Her Son. Why Laphroaig discontinued producing this, I don’t know. But it’s a force. When it was readily available, it was attractively affordable and fitting perfectly in the range of their 10 and 15 year old offerings. The NAS Lore replaced this (which I have not enjoyed yet enjoyed). The balance is spot on with sweetness, dryness, smokiness, and savoriness. The flavors are never ending, vibrant, apparent and work together synergistically, like a team of crew rowers or brush stokes on a painting. Many thanks to my long-time Distiller mate @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this long, long ago. [98/100][Tasted: 12/8/23]

- Laphroaig 18 was introduced into their core range in 2009 then discontinued a short time later in 2016. The bottle pictured features a pre-2013 label and was only opened recently after being in storage for over a decade. Distilleries readily admit that phenols in whisky, or smokiness, diminish with time spent in the barrel. This is also true of time spent in an unopened bottle, although never talked about. For example, new-make spirit with a phenol count of 25 ppm may decrease to 7-8 ppm after 15 years or to 4-6 ppm after 30 years of aging. This is why you will rarely see an Islay whisky with an age statement of more than 40 years. By this time it has usually lost all of its characteristic smokiness. Distilleries measure and advertise the phenol count in the mash after the barley has been smoked by the dried peat logs. In the case of Laphroaig, that number starts at 50 ppm and drops down to about 25 ppm from the distillation process. Also, Islay peat moss is primarily sphagnum which is rich in the polyphenols: phenol, creosol, guaiacol and a few others to a lesser extent. Phenol gives Islay whisky its smokiness, creosol lends a tar or asphalt characteristic, and guaiacol a medicinal iodine-like quality. Over time, it is my impression phenol and guaiacol will dissipate and creosol becomes more prominent along with other qualities previously masked. As a result, the whisky can take on a whole new dimension some might find more desirable. I found this to be true with the 18yo pictured. Minimal smoke and lots of everything else typical of Laphroaig. Simply brilliant!

Has loads of green, yellow, and tropical fruit. Nose: Pineapples, Kiwis, Key Limes, Barbecue, Smoke, Iodine, Apricots, Grapefruits, White Chocolate, Raspberries Palate: Vanilla, Peaches, Quince Pears, Mangoes, Mackerels, Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, Papayas Finish: Iodine, Mackerels, Coal, Vanilla, Yellow Plums, Golden Kiwis, Bacon, Coal

The nose is salt water, hints of ozone. On the palate It's maraschino cherries, grass, mildly medicinal, oily and wood. There are also hints of brine, ripe, plums, and sweetness. The finish, like all of the flavors in this is very mild, and short, fruity, oily, peaty and woody.

Nose: a bit of stonefruit, floral sweetness. Slight bit of earthy peatyness and distant smoke. A hint of malt sweetness. Mild burnt oak. Some vanilla too. Palate: definitely getting oak here. Peat and smoke are definitely stronger here than the nose, but they dont hit as hard as the 10. Definitely a fruitiness here as well, john says nectarine. Some prominent floral elements here. A nice singe to it. Finish: smooth, not as phenolic as a 10 but its still there lingering a bit. Getting a lot of malt. Empty glass nose: charred oak.

Excellence but similar if memory serves me to laphroaig 16 which is cheaper and more readily available in the US