Very random limited release from Laphroaig, what with the whole Amazon deal in Europe. Luckily, it made it to the shelves here in the U.S., as I'll always jump at the option to try age-stated Laphroaig. Nose: Many of the standard Laphroaig notes. Seaweed, iodine, smoke, sea salt, bandaid, tennis ball (you were absolutely right on that last one @Generously_Paul ). Interesting new car leather note. Chestnut. Spearmint and peppermint. Saltwater taffy. Fruity notes like apple, pear, and apricot. Some vanilla and butterscotch sweetness. Some cinnamon and oak. Much less peat intensity than some of the younger expressions. Solid start. Palate: Heavy campfire smoke, iodine, sea salt, seaweed, peat. Spicy black bean chili with red and black pepper. Cinnamon spice as well. Some heat here, but not unwelcome. Chestnut, caramel, vanilla, apple, pear, and milk chocolate. Floral and oaky. Interesting combination of sweet and heat, brine, smoke, and medicinal notes. But nothing we haven't seen from Laphroaig in the past. Solid nontheless. Finish: Still plenty of campfire smoke, iodine, seaweed, sea salt. Bandaid. You can taste the peat and smoke all the way to the end. Black bean chili, cinnamon, and oak spice. Toasted almond and chestnut. Fades away with oak, apple, pear, and vanilla. Moderate/long length. This is unusually mild for a Laphroaig. Fairly sweet, extremely fruity. Certainly a departure from the bold and brash 10 Y.O. and NAS variants that I love so much. With that being said, it's not what I want from Laphroaig. My lowest rated expression so far. However, I tend to rate Laphroaig very highly, so with such a high standard, it would be irresponsible to only compare this to those other offerings. Judged independently, this is quite enjoyable. There is plenty to take in here, and the Laphroaig DNA is palpable. Maybe age is a detractor here? All the notes are present, but the intensity is lacking just a bit. Regardless, this is a great tasting whisky with impressive an impressive age-statement and a respectable ABV. If you're a Laphroaig fan curious to see what an older Laphroaig tastes like without breaking the bank, this one fills that role nicely. I’m back with a new bottle almost 4 years later. No batch differences indicated. This is the “second release” but there isn’t anything on the packaging to suggest they did anything different. I added a couple notes this time. But for the most part, I’m getting almost the same exact profile. The difference is that I’m enjoying the cohesion of the profile much more than I did all those years ago. What I felt was my mild is now presenting as subtle elegance—the notes may not hit in an intense manner but there is a lot of depth here. For that, I’m boosting this a quarter of a star, and in fact, I feel like I could’ve done even got higher. But for now, that’s an appropriate score as it equally weighs this review and my original. 4.25/5.