Richard-ModernDrinking
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2020 Port & Wine Casks
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
August 19, 2020 (edited January 25, 2022)
Another great Cairdeas. The casks add just the right top notes to the Laphroaig profile without overpowering the spirit. The nose starts with faint berry notes, but they’re smothered by the meaty smoke before they dominate. A luscious oily texture captivates on first sip, before the whisky transitions to an appealing combination of sweet and sour flavors. The finish is mostly smoky with an aftertaste of grapefruit. I like the balance of the flavors and am relieved that it doesn’t approach anything nearing the sweet end of the spectrum. I was going to skip this year’s release given the big cost increase, but an acquaintance found a bottle at a price that made joining a split an easy decision.
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@ContemplativeFox I think that momentary lapse ranks pretty low in the global scheme of dumbness right now
@Richard-ModernDrinking Seeing as I have an economics degree and was literally just shopping for scotch online, seeing inflated prices, and thinking "oh, that must be because of the tariffs", I feel a little dumb right now lol. Thanks for the explanation.
@ContemplativeFox It’s the impact of the tariffs
@PBMichiganWolverine I'm seeing this year's in the $110-115 range, but only available in a couple of places. There are a lot of older releases available for less. It could be that some places haven't gotten them yet or something. Or possibly just a price increase.
@PBMichiganWolverine It’s true that the price has come down from the $100 level that the first bottles showed up at, but mostly it’s above that mark.
I’ve seen these for $85-90—weren’t all previous cairdeas in the same range?