Laphroaig Càirdeas 2024 Cask Favourites

Nose: gentle smokiness and brine. Getting the "fresh baked pretzels baked over briny driftwood" for sure. Candied dried fruit, earthy sherry, cinnamon, clove, a hint of black pepper. Peat is here but wrapped in a dark fruity embrace. Cherry. Palate: woody/oaky; quarter casks come out well here. Peat is present. Briny. Slightly Nutty. Earthy sherry comes through prominently but is well balanced against the woodier notes. Finish: peat comes out here, gently but present. Warming baking spice. Slightly vegetal. Slightly phenolic.

The 2024 Feis Ile edition of Cairdeas, Laphroaig's yearly release for the Festival, is called "Cask Favourites", a mixture of two popular Cairdeas expressions from previous years: the 2019 Triple Wood and 2021's PX cask (wonderful whisky by the way). Bottled at 52.4%abv, it is a 10yo dram, that celebrates 30 years of Cairdeas expressions. On the nose, i get crazy notes of stinky wet socks dipped in PX sherry, if such thing even exists. Fishmarket; its like Strawberry marmalade with fish. Very fishy actually. Super interesting. On the palate, i get red fruit syrup, marmalade and of course, Laphroaig's classic note of a fresh can of Tennis balls. Aftertaste is all about Laphroaig's magestic peat at its finest. Peat, sown land, fishmarket, Pedro Ximenez sherry. Overall, this was a great dram, that feels perfectly balanced between the two expressions that compose it. You can actually tell exactly that this is the child of the Triple wood and the Px Cask. My score for it is 92 over a 100.

Nose: smells very close to the PX cask, a little bit more cinnamon and wood notes maybe. Strong syrupy sherry, dark candied fruit. Baking spice and ginger. Caramel. Peat is present but subdued. Palate: peat is there but well balanced with the sherry sweetness and earthiness. There are more woody notes here, ashy, vanilla. Smooth as hell for the proof. Finish: has a little sharp woodiness. Ashy. Oak tannin. Heat in the throat.

Oh my god is it good! Tried the quarter cask, sherry finish, Lore, elements 1.0, 16y, and cask stenght, this is my first Cairdeas, but its my favourite Laphroaig by a long stretch. Drinks like an order whiskey, more complex and refined, but reminds you of its age with the high peat, could spend an hour with it between nosing and tasting. Darker taste, but not dull. Sandalwood, dark cherry, charred beef, cinnamon, even some smoked paprika, PX is very present, not sure how much time it spent on that barrel, but it was more than a year or two for sure. Aroma is delicate for a Laphroaig, finish is long and sweet, smokiness fades a little and leaves you with a sweet and fruity taste. My 3rd favourite Islay, only behind two Octomores. Buy two bottles, youre going to go through it much faster than you think.