Soba45
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2013 Port Wood Edition
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
December 3, 2019 (edited April 21, 2020)
I remember when I was a child and I heard about the make a wish foundation. I thought that's awesome that people would do that for a sick kid. Well add 30 years or so and less any serious health conditions this grown man also had wishes. One was to try the fabled Cairdeas...any of them but particularly a good one. It wasn't the make a wish foundation which came to the party though it was Santa aka @PBMichiganWolverine. Hoho he said I'll not only grant your wish I'll double it...TWO Cairdeas's AND I'll make the sample double size cos hey I'm American and everything is bigger here...and to make my reindeers journey worth it I'll throw in a load more awesome stuff. The man was very excited as he really hadn't been good enough to deserve anything this year according to his wife but then again he never got anything when he was. Also he didn't even believe in Santa but hey this man was DESPERATE..he'd believe in Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny if one of them promised him a Cairdeas sample. Now the man always made his kids wait until xmas until they could open their presents but hey he wore the pants round here...when his wife let him... so if he didn't want to wait he wouldn't. So begins the 12 drams to xmas aka the Santa chronicles.
This dram is fantastic. Way better than the Brodir or whatever that pale imitation was... the man dreamed of a world that was pure, just and when Laphroaig would once again produce great stuff but hey as we all know boys and girls once the marketing dept gets in charge all the presents get watered down. A great dram which makes the top 10 for 2019 easy!
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@AntonioSchmid Cheers mate :-)
@Soba45, your review put a smile on my face. Thank you! :)
@Rick_M @LeeEvolved I wish I knew in advance that India had that Mars Oribiter launched...i would’ve taken the samples interplanetary
@LeeEvolved he is indeed. PSS instead of PBM should be his initials :-). I will pray for your soul that you cease wandering aimlessly and come back to your spiritual (literally) home and grace us all with your words of wisdom and me with a bountiful supply of samples haha :-)
@LeeEvolved - the more @PBMichiganWolverine tries to cut down on inventory the bigger it gets. :)
@PBMichiganWolverine is the Patron Saint of Samples. Especially now that he’s taking his generosity world wide! Glad you got to experience the fabled port wood Carriages. It is a stunner. If I ever get back in the game I’d happily send you a supply drop at some point- now that we have a plan to defeat customs.
@jonwilkinson7309 ah nice thanks. I get absolutely screwed by TWE and MoM as they use DHL who charge a $5 per line item charge on top of customs fees etc. I imported samples 20 to 50 at a time so it got very expensive!
@Soba45. finedrams.com. While I order more frequently from The Whiskey Exchange (bigger selection and usually the best prices), Fine Drams sometimes has things that are not available at TWE. Plus, their shipping charges are lower on small orders (on the rare occasions that I'm able to keep ot small, FD may not be comparable in size the TWE, but has plenty to tempt me). Also, I don't believe that "glassware" has been hit in the fool's errand of tariffs being mindlessly implemented.
@jonwilkinson7309 Oh and do you mind saying who they are as I'm always on the lookout for great places. Much better selection overseas but customs is a killer!
@Generously_Paul Great idea! I really should ask what other ideas people have. Saves me a fortune in customs charges if it's successful!
@Soba45 you can always go with “commemorative glassware, fragile”
@jonwilkinson7309 Cheers :-). Good to know as I was thinking aromatherapy works well for the small samples but what should i put for larger ones. now I know!
Love the review! There is one reliable shop in Europe that I order from that simply list the contents as "glassware" on the customs manifest.
@PBMichiganWolverine Probably lucky you didn't as my wife would have been partly delighted, partly suspicious upon reading the label and then just resigned/sad when she realized it was YAFWD (yet another **** whiskey delivery) :-)
@Generously_Paul Cheers! I'd been enviously watching in my hobbit hole deep in the bowls of middle earth watching many preciouses be swapped back and forward and now 12 were mine! :-)
@Soba45 my first gut reaction was to label the package “ sex toys and anti-diarrhea “. The Kiwi customs would’ve had a chuckle. Instead went with aromatherapy. ☺️ @Generously_Paul I didn’t have a bottle left of the 2014–but I did open the 2019 this thanksgiving, so sent that along with the little I had left of this.
Congrats on your first Cairdeas and receiving some of the @PBMichiganWolverine bounty. The 2013 was a great one, but I think the 2014 was even better. Hope he sent you one of those as well
@1901 Wow that is some fancy drams they hand out! 3 months and counting down.. I'm limbering up my liver!
Whiskeylive was very good. I sampled loads, had good chats at the stands, and went to two masterclasses: Teeling given by their master distiller Alex Chasko was excellent with the Renaissance and the 'world's best' 24yo single malt highlights; Diageo special releases which was run terribly by a JW Ambassador but the Convalmore 32yo and JW Blue Port Ellen kinda made up for that. I could have spent the day at the Springbank stand though. When is Dramfest?
@1901 Cheers :-). Yeah you love xmas as a child then it's all about New Years and when you have kids it swings back the other way again. How did whiskeylive go?
For parents the magic of Christmas is often experienced vicariously: the bouncing excitement and anticipation for kids, the wonder of the season; their unbridled joy on receiving gifts. Why do I feel the same warm fuzziness now! Great review
@cascode Cheers :-). Sadly I couldn't send any samples back to Santa to repay his generosity as apparently it's a crime in the North Pole to import alcohol if unlicensed even for personal use. We should do a trans tasman whiskey sample swap sometime. Santa sent it as aromatherapy samples and valued the parcel low so it got through customs ok :-)
Great review :-)