Laphroaig Lore

Just now finishing the bottle. I’d say that the 10 is tastier in a straightforward sense. The Lore gains bonus points for its ridiculous complexity. Overall I’d give it the same rating. What I like about the Lore in particular is that it tastes good neat, with water, and with ice, all in different ways. Neat is more band-aidy, water brings out the sweetness, and ice makes it thicker and smokier. But at the same time, if you want something that tastes just as good without any fuss (for half the price), you might as well go with the 10. As an aside, I like this better than the Uigeadail, which is ashy and bacon-y in comparison.

An excellent whisky that is very reminiscent of Ardbeg Uigaedail. It has that signature Laphroaig medicinal flavor, along with some mild barrel spice and added richness from the sherry casking. More importantly, it loses that slight bitter note that regular Laphroaig 10 has on the finish, which I am personally not terribly fond of. I'd encourage fans of Laphroaig to pick this up to give it a try at least once, as it is indeed rich and complex. Unfortunately, the price point here really holds this one back. I'm not letting it reflect in my rating, but despite how much I like it, I don't think this is something I can justify buying more than once or twice. To put it simply, $125 for a NAS Whisky, as good as this one is, is just too much. This to me, is roughly on par (or slightly better, hard to say) with Uigeadail. The difference is, this is $50 more than that one. I care a lot about value for money. If this one was cheaper, (70-90 perhaps) I'd definitely always keep a bottle handy. As it stands, its hard to justify the purchase when you can get so many great bottles for less. It's even harder to justify the price point when the now discontinued Laphroaig 18 was cheaper.

Love the peat

Smooth. Smokey.