Laphroaig QA Cask

Floral peat, and relatively little smoke, characterize this gentle dram. There is not as much fruit sweetness either, but rather a distinct and powerful roasted nut smell (among the strongest nut notes I've gotten from any whisky): both unshelled peanuts and Brazil nuts. Again, this is by far the nuttiest Laphroaig I've encountered. The palate is a bit light and thin (what do you expect at 40%?), with pleasant flavors of coffee, vanilla, and roasted nuts giving it an overall character of mild creaminess. I get very little smoke on the palate, so much so that I didn't even bother writing down peat or smoke in my notes -- a rarity for any Islay scotch. There also isn't either a strong honey sweetness or a citrus sweetness, which suggests to me that the QA barrels are not charred like bourbon barrels. This finishes quickly for an Islay or a Laphroaig, with a pinch of smoke and sweetness, and then roasted coffee, light woody spice, and those nuts again. There's a bit too much lingering bitterness, which is the main flaw in the finish. It's the absence of that unvarnished, powerful peat punch that most people have criticized about QA Cask. That strikes me as a bit unfair -- if this scotch had a Campbeltown label or came from a new distillery, I suspect a lot of critics would be praising it as a well-balanced, lightly-peated scotch. It's also priced about the same as Laphroaig 10 or Quarter Cask, after adjusting for the higher volume of the travel retail bottle, which seems fair. It's better than other online reviews make it out to be. Thanks to Telex for the sample!

The nose is surprisingly light compared to other Islay malts. There IS some peat, vanilla, and if I dig in deep, I get some sort of vegetative note in there. It might be the white pepper another gentleman noted. Let's dive in neat, I can't bare to drop anything on 40% ABV. Mmmm! Nice palate. Shockingly more peat and iodine on the palate than anticipated. I gotta go in again... Very close to the 10, but I DO get the slight hint of vanilla. I was scared that it was going to be too much, but I do declare, not so. No earthiness here, so more of a breakfast dram, but no complaints. Reminiscent of the Ardbeg Perpetuum and Lagavulin 8 to me. Enjoy!