Whiskey_Hound
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2016 Madeira Cask
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
January 24, 2020 (edited May 14, 2020)
Fresh on the heels of my review of the phenomenal 2018 Cairdeas, I've got this one for the 2016 Madeira Cask. This was a pretty lucky find; the store I found this at a couple months back has an entire row of dusty bottles of this stuff. Never seen it elsewhere. Let's see if this one can hold to the precedent of excellence set by the 2017 and 2018 releases.
Nose: Lots of typical Laphroaig notes: seaweed, brine, sea salt, ash, lemon, grapefruit, iodine, band-aid, tennis ball, ash, campfire smoke. Custard and chestnut. A nice bouquet of scents that wouldn't work well together in any other context. Black pepper, cinnamon, and oak. The Madeira cask imparts some red fruit notes; notably, it has more impact than the Fino casks in the 2018. Strawberry, red grape, cranberry, raspberry, and other dry red fruits. Also some apricot and a hint of melon. More briny and sweet than smoky. Good start.
Palate: Initially, it's a blast of charred meats and peated notes: brisquet, bacon, campfire smoke, ash, and peat. A real peat bomb. Then I'm abruptly hit with a rush a fruity and desert sweetness. It may sound weird, but the burst of flavor is akin to biting into a Gusher; it's an explosion all at once. Citrus notes of lemon and grapefruit combine with strawberry, grape, raspberry, apricot, peach, fruit punch, cola, jam, and dark and mint chocolate, making quite an interesting flavor bomb. Red pepper and black pepper chili and chestnut. Of course, there's more sea salt, cinnamon, black pepper, and oak.
Finish: All of the smoked meat, bacon, ribs, brisket carry over. Same with the brine and smoke. Red pepper and black bean chili and chestnut. Some licorice now. Cinnamon, black pepper, oak, and all of the citrus. Long finish. Fantastic.
Absolute winner. I will point out that this took the longest to open up out of the 3. I wasn't really blown away by this one until tonight's tasting. But it hits every note. Especially the absolute home run of a palate with that explosion of flavor midway through.
So, here I am in 2020, giving Laphroaig the esteemed title of a three-peat champion. 2016-2018, all knockout bottlings. Long live the Cairdeas line. Now I need to go out and buy the 2019 Triple Wood CS. If you're lucky enough to see this, snatch it up. 5/5.
75.0
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Bottle
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@LeeEvolved That'd be amazing! I'll shoot you an email... and in the meantime I'll try to put together something to send your way in return!
@LeeEvolved Good man will do!!!
@Soba45 - 🤣. Hit me up by email and we can see what can be worked out. If @PBMichiganWolverine was able to get a package safely to you, then I should be able to as well.
@LeeEvolved I'm very happy to send you a bunch of great stuff and I'll sort the postage this end as well (we could maybe get creative so you don't go to jail for 100 years). It'd be sort of be like a once in the lifetime chance of a leprechaun offering me a chance to plunder the pot of gold 😁
@LeeEvolved How about if your not but happy to pay postage :-)
@Whiskey_Hound - if you are in the US and feel like reaching out to me I think I have a few samples of some of the other Cairdeas if you’d like to try them. You can email me: [email protected] and I will see what I have available. It may take me a few weeks to get things together but I can probably hook you up with some things you’d probably enjoy. Cheers.
@Soba45 @PBMichiganWolverine The Lore and the 2017 Cairdeas are my favorite Laphroaigs. I just don't think there's much of a drop-off after that. Even the core range is just amazing. I have a hard time finding fault with anything--save the Select. @LeeEvolved I can only imagine how good that 2010 must have been. Hearing something like that makes me wish I'd known about this stuff years earlier
@Whiskey_Hound Oh and @PBMichiganWolverine reminded me in his comment he also sent a Portwood sample. Not sure how I forgot that as that was awesome...big step up from the 2019
@PBMichiganWolverine - the early ones are more simplistic IMO, but they weren’t afraid to blend in well-aged stock back then. Now, you’re probably lucky to get 7-8 year old stock that’s been finished in some specialty barrel to mask the youthfulness. I believe the 2010 has some 19yo Laphroaig in it- you’ll probably never see that in a Cairdeas ever again.
Personally, I think you can’t go wrong with a Cairdeas. Just a matter of “ it’s good” or “ wow..this is damn good” My favorite still remains the Portwood, but honestly...for the price, all are good. @LeeEvolved sent me some of the ultra rare 2008 to 2012 samples...still have those early ones to try out
@Whiskey_Hound Yup nice drop but more a 4 rating for me. I wouldn't personally run about and grab a bottle. I preferred the Lore alot more
@Soba45 Thanks man! Have you gotten a chance to try it yet? I'd like to know what you think. @Jo_Laf I've only been able to find as far back as this 2016 release. Unfortunately, I'm a little late to the party with these, but from what I've gotten to try, I'm thoroughly impressed
I agree 100% with your review. I compared 6 Cairdeas (2013 port to to 2018 fino) and the Madeira came out first. Overall, all great produvts!
Nice score! Sadly we don't get them over here but @PBMichiganWolverine was kind enough to provision a large 2019 sample