Laphroaig Cairdeas Feis Ile 2018
Happy Marriage
5 286
Review by @markjedi1
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall86
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Laphroaig puts out the so-called Cairdeas for Feis Ile since 2008. Cairdeas means friendship. I’ve tried them all bar the ones from 2017 and 2019 (if anyone has a sample for sale, get in touch!). Last year’s edition is in my glass today. It’s a vatting of whisky between 7 and 11 years old and was finished on Fino sherry casks.
The nose starts surprisingly soft on rhubarb marmalade, dried apricots and hazelnuts. A bit drying with a soft sour note. That must be the sherry. The peat offers some smoke, but not in your face. And I actually quite like it.
The peat is a lot bigger on the palate and offers sour and smoky notes, tar and ashes, but the fruit remains prominently present. Vanilla kicks in, a drop of honey is spilt. In the meantime it turns quite spicy, almost piquant. A bitterness kicks in. This is very nice, indeed.
It remains piquant in the medium long finish, sweet and smoky, but becomes dry quite quickly.
The Fino cannot be missed, but it loves the whisky (or is it the other way around?). This is a happy marriage.
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i appreciated this review, and I agree with most of your observations here . The dry Fino complements the Laffie nicely, without the clash that heavy sherry influence can bring. I also love the color.
Did you try/ or hear much about the '19 Triple Wood CS Cairdeas? I am really looking forward to this one. too.Triple Wood at 60% i read that they are producing many more bottles of TW CS bottlings than the previous Cairdeas,so hopefully there will plenty to go around. Some Laff fans don't like the TW, so maybe thats a good thing: more to go around. That could all be interwebs gossip, but hopefully there will be enough to go around.
In any case, Im glad that you like the Fino Cairdeas as much as I do. It's great stuff..