Laphroaig Lore

Medicinal and briny. Smokey finish.

Neat. Sample from the amazing Whisky Central. It must be a peat kind of day because this is delightful on the nose. Burnt ends with a hint of a mustard based BBQ sauce. Getting the different components of a cherry chordal. Sea salt caramel taffy. Slight hint of over riped banana. Buttercream frosting. Delightful. Texture is very oily but a bit thin. This is so sweet. Lots of vanilla cream up front with a hint of that cherry. Even peachy. This is surprising. I’m just breaking apart layers of sweetness. Vanilla, caramel, chocolate surrounding a medley of fruits. The peat coats the mouth but never dominates and never takes center stage during the tasting. It’s a feeling more than a tasting note. Sea salt caramel taffy and banana laffy taffy combo on the finish. This is not what I was expecting! Oh my, I adore this. I haven’t experienced an Islay that is pure dessert, layers and layers of sweetness. I need to purchase a bottle of this now.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Beautiful, long oily complex peat smoke.

Fruity, smoky-salty

Lore pours a deep mahogany, an appearance that fits its name and all that it stands for. Kippery aromas of seaweed waft up from the glass, the leading notes on the nose. That memorable Laphroaig introduction is never far away when sweeter notes of cinnamon candied walnuts and fig tart and richer flavors of capicola appear. There is an unexpected touch of fresh green olives too. A remarkable nose. The taste is too, with notes of smoked cherrywood, plump red wine grapes, and aged Gouda. It’s a feast’s worth of aromas and flavors. The mouthfeel is sharp and yet creamy, like that Gouda note from the palate. The tongue buzzes and the mouth waters. The finish is oaken, smolderingly smoky, lasting and pensive. Impressions of a solitary walk in old woods. The empty glass smells like peppercorns and cherrywood. One to savor, but one that is so good it will be hard to keep for too long. It’s both in the vein and in the league of Ardbeg Uigeadail, Ledaig 18, and Springbank 15. Savored the last pour of this bottle in solitude, at sunset on Calloway Peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains.