Feis Ile 2018 live blogging. Laphroaig Cairdeas 15 is the second “special” 15-year old release from the distillery in the last few years. This one differs from the 200th anniversary edition because it uses exclusively Laphroaig floor-malted barley, as opposed to barley sourced from Port Ellen. That suggests this should be peatier, as Laphroaig peats its own malt to 50-55 ppm compared to the 45 ppm malt they get from Port Ellen (#tourfacts). On the nose, this whisky is medicinal, sweet, and herbal, with faint smoke and some inklings of then tart fruit that characterize mature Laphroaigs. The palate is well-balanced but a little muted: medicinal, tart fruit, chocolate-covered pretzels (salty!). A tad hotter than I expected. That tart or sour fruit flavor continues through a finish long as a May day on Islay (sunset here is 9:45 or so). Peat smoke and tar. Good but (perhaps unfairly) fading a bit compared to other drams from this week. Bonus fact: a swan named Gary lives in the shallows of the bay in front of Laphroaig.