Laphroaig 30 Year Old

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m Jewish. I am a kosher keeping (mostly “kosher by nature” seeing as I’m a vegetarian), whisky drinking, rock-n-roll playing, cigar smoking Jew. A proud one at that. Additionally, I keep Kosher for Passover which means I do not eat leavened bread during this eight day holiday. Nor do I drink beer, eat waffles, pancakes or, drink whisk(e)y.

As much as I’ll miss whisk(e)y (starting on Monday and ending the day before WhiskyLive in NYC), it makes me feel quite good to not drink the stuff and it gives me that chance to experience more Wines, Tequilas and maybe Mead (if I can find a “K” for “P” Mead).

This being said, over the next few days, until Passover, I will be reviewing some of the more top-shelf drams I have (or have samples of). During Passover (or Pesach, using the Hebrew word for the holiday), I will be tasting & reviewing some of the aforementioned non-whisk(e)y adult beverages.

So, here’s the the first in 3 top shelf whisky reviews. The Laphroaig 30yr.

On the nose – Meaty & musty though quite fruity, Necco wafers, chalky & waxy, nutmeg, mustard seeds, sea salt, I am smelling antiquity and not sure I am mature enough for this stuff – I sort of feel like a 5th grader that has a crush on his English teacher (I had a big crush on my 5th grade English teacher. We called her Mrs. Huge Tits because it rhymed with her real last name and she was well endowed toward her upper chest area… if you catch my drift), dried spices and bay leaf – there’s a ton here! Wow, the bay leaf is quite prominent after the 3rd whiff

Palate – Chocolatey and a good amount of pepper – very spicy (not black pepper spicy, more like hot pepper spice), soup, stewy and salty, slight smoldering, clementines, extremely mature and delicate peat, pungent, soy sauce & veggie dumplings – I am most happy right now. This is my kind of peat!! Mature & sexy.

Finish – Medium long, salty and a bit spicy (think soy sauce and ginger on a nice sushi roll).

In sum – I can see why this is a coveted dram. The balance & profile is near perfect. This is oh, so special. I am no expert. I’m only 3 years into this whisky tasting business and even I can see that there is something quite amazing here. If I had a full bottle of this stuff and my house were burning down, I’d run back in to save my wife & kids, grab my cats and this bottle. This is a desert island dram and I am very happy to be tasting this on a special night such as this — Shabbat!

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