Laphroaig Càirdeas 2020 Port & Wine Casks

This is such a delicious whiskey! A mixture of malt, BBQ meats, sweat peat, strawberries and cream, dark fruits and mixed nuts greet the nose and continue on the oily palate. Heat builds over time. The long finish starts spicy and morphs to a sweet, fruity, menthol.

Color: Sunset through smog. Nose: Smoked, fatty meat, like pork ribs. Heavy, ruby red wine notes. Soft white ash sprinkled in a dry red. Palate: Less meat, more campfire. Like wet, smokey logs. Still a ton of fruity burgundy, but with an anchor of barrel wood. Very light caramel with deep rich honeycomb and melted milk chocolate. Glazed salmon leaps to mind. Finish: Very mild. Not hot or punchy, but mellow red fruits and a few wisps of smoke. Fruitier on the back than the front. With water: Nose diminished a bit, much less smoke but a little more sweetness. Palate was still very strong, with a livelier bouquet of fruit -- almost a Speyside to me. Red apples, ripe plums, and plenty of deep black grapes. Finish sports currants with an iodine tingle.

Classic Laphroaig peat and iodine with a nice layer of fruity sweetness from the wine casks. Definitely worth a try while it's available

This is nice! I like the smokiness of Laphroaig,and I like sherry cask finished Scotch. This is a perfect harmony of the two. The initial nose is smoke, but behind it but not at all hidden is the sherry. Worth a second taste or even a bottle purchase.

Love how this lasts in my mouth! Big bold sweet smoke! Yep, love it! Drams up!

There are better Laphroaigs available than this, but the Cairdeas doesn’t disappoint. My burps will have a smokey aftertaste for a few hours and I’m not mad about it.

I like it, this one. Really big. Really peaty. It’s my jam.

There's rubber, slow roasted char along with cooked vanilla, cooked coconut, and pine nuts. Subdued are the fruit notes which come across as a fresh strawberry note, bright cherries, and fleeting hibiscus. Underemphasized relative to other Laphroaigs are the medicinal, vegetable notes and more astringent smoke notes. It is smoky, of course, but this is a smooth char, not a viscous tar or asphalt flavor. Nor do seaweed or kale feature. In the palate there's pickled pear, smoked brisket, vanilla, more of that clean char, heather, rose hips, and pepper steak. What really dominates however is the brine. I mean this is one salty Laphroaig. Indeed, if I lined up every Laphroaig I've had (and I've had quite a few), and did a vertical, this might be my pre-matchup favorite to win the brine competition. This could give Morton's a run for its money. What doesn't feature is fruit. It isn't the 2013 Cairdeas Port Wood or Brodir or the travel exclusive Port Wood Finish. It's barely had any time in the casks at all. Indeed, I almost feel like I might have thought better of this if they hadn't pushed this as being a "Port & Wine Casks" Cairdeas and just named it "Salt Lick." That and the rubber. It tastes like someone peeled out in the middle of a salt flat and you licked the tire. Granted, if you are bizarre enough to enjoy Laphroaig, as I am, that isn't entirely bad. It just doesn't have pronounced fruit notes. As for the finish, it's soot, brine, black tea, a bit of marmalade, and a lingering smoke. It's not terribly complex, although the soot and brine are still delightful in their own right. It isn't sweet but this would likely go well with caramels. It feels like it's just demanding to turn a confectionary into something savory. The roof of my mouth is a briny treasure trove. I thought I might have gotten some pink grapefruit at one point but I may have been hallucinating. As far as the Cairdeas line-up, here's how I'd rank them: 2013 Port Wood (there will never be another like it, I'm afraid) 2018 Fino 2015 200th Anniversary 2014 Amontillado 2016 Madeira 2020 Port & Wine 2017 Cask Strength Quarter Cask 2019 Cask Strength Triple Wood