Laphroaig Brodir

Very ashy and creosote and of course the Laphroaig signature. Not to sweet. I love it!!!

Getting an early start on the bonus samples for round 6 of the SDT with this travel retail exclusive Laphroaig provided by Mr. @LeeEvolved. Brodir is the brother of the PX Cask but finished in port wood vs PX. Bottled at 48% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of a beautiful ruby red with a purplish hue. The nose is sweet, fruity, wine drenched peat. Great classic Laphroaig notes. Smoke, bandages, iodine, campfire ashes, rubber and tennis balls. Sweet wine notes, mixed berry jam, grapes, plums. Maritime notes, seashore, salty sea spray, mineral like seashells. Wine soaked oak, a touch of eucalyptus. Berry pie, very confectionary towards the end with a hint of pink bubblegum. A very good nose indeed. The palate is SLIGHTLY less engaging. Strong peat smoke and bonfire ashes. Oak, black pepper. Sweet, berries, grapes and a light tobacco. More smoke and candy sweet. I started enjoying this a little too much for any further analytics, so let’s just say it’s damn good. Medium to full bodied with a light oiliness, mouth coating and dry. The finish is long, smoky, sweet, earthy and meaty. This is great stuff. The better looking fraternal twin of the PX Cask that gets all of the attention from the girls in high school. If I see a bottle at duty free I will be sure to grab one. If this is the lesser version of the 2013 Cairdeas, then I will have to pester Lee into finding another bottle to open so I can have a taste! A solid 4.5 Cheers

This is Laphroaig’s attempt to take their port wine finishing up to another level. It’s a travel retail exclusive that’s actually on its second batch run. The first run was back in 2012 and was a precursor to their excellent 2013 Cairdeas release, that has become a mythical, lengendary drop over the last couple of years. In an attempt to recapture that magic, Laphroaig re-released this bottle in hopes of a return to glory. The problem is that this one falls significantly short. It’s bottled at 48%, is non-chill filtered and has no added color. The color is actually quite striking: orange/amber. It appears oily while leaving lots of droplets around the upper edge when you spin it in your Glencairn. There are very few legs that form, as well. The nose is sweet port wine, light grapes and honey with a pretty restrained smoke level. There’s little to no wood or alcohol notes present, even after 20-25 minutes. The palate is similar: Light vine fruits with hints of smoke, but it is juicier than most Laphroaig’s I’ve had to this point. It’s not so much oily as it is watery. You can tell there’s young malt at play here, but the port flavors keep the harshness at bay. The overall mouthfeel ends up feeling a little thin. The 2013 Cairdeas Port didn’t suffer from these issues, neither did batch 1 of this Brodir from what I’ve heard. Unfortunately, batch 1 bottles are even harder to find than the Cairdeas version. The finish continues the theme of restraint. Lower smoke levels than you’ll be accustomed to from The Frog, but it is really fruity with a medium length, lingering sweet finale. Overall, I was hoping for the best and wishing it was a suitable replacement for the 2013 Cairdeas, but it comes up short- especially at the price point of $107 a bottle. If you’ve had the good fortune to try the 2013 Cairdeas, and marveled at its brilliance, then you’ll see that this one is more of a tease than the real deal. It’s still highly drinkable, but I’m still looking for that elusive Cairdeas. 3.75-4 stars for the Brodir. Cheers.