Laphroaig Cask Strength 10 Year Old

Laphroaig 10yo CS 58.6% b 004 Jan.12

I opened this guy on July 13th of 2013. I decanted a 200mL bottle the day I opened it. I have now tasted it on six occasions the last being from the decanted bottle. The scores in order are: 93, 95, 94, 94, 92, and from the 200mL bottle last month a score of 95.

Nose: Even darker then the 001. This is very earthy, peaty, wet wood, and black liquorish. This is sharper with more edges then the 005. Lovely woody peat. This has the strongest peat embers of the night. There is also some citrus (lemon peel?) that the 005 lacks to give brightness to this dark nose. This definitely has a fire, astringency and iodine attack that the others all lack. It has not only the antiseptic, but also the darkest peat notes fattened up by chocolate and caramel. Yes, this is also the most medicinal of the batches. However, compared to batches 001 and 002 this is much more focused on low bass tones. Batch 005 actually seems to have lower pitches than this batch (I think it lacks the high citrus notes), but the 004 seems more dense and complex.

With water: more vanilla and less dark; more fire and spice. My favorite batch with water.

Taste: Sweet and peat in a wonderful harmony. Wonderful ocean mixing with peat. This is the one that can stay the longest on your tongue . . . despite the ABV! Now it is growing in intensity! Dark sweetness and mossy brackish water . . . with mint? Chocolate covered fruit and peat. Lots of minerality with the peat; sweet caramel covered apples bobbing in a trough of peat water, salt and smoke.

Finish: Huge big blast of peat . . . pow . . . takes your senses away . . . now comes the sea salt, iodine, seaweed coated wood . . . wonderful and long. Big dry salty peat explosions . . . huge! Peat, earth, dirt, oak with caked on dirt, smoke, and brick dust. Now it turns to some liquorish and wood and back to semi-sweet peat. Biggest finish of the batches. The mouth is left with wet leaves, salt, wet earth, and smoke . . . lovely and long. This is my favorite finish of the night – it is the most intense (which makes sense with the ABV).

Balance, Complexity: This is more like it. It has the complexity I love from good Laphroaig balanced nicely with some citrus and sweet. I find it the most complex of the batches (perhaps tied with 001). The balance on the nose, taste, and finish are delightful. I love the extra dimension where the darkness and took this one. I was afraid it was so dark in the glass because of e-150a . . . but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Still not far and away above the others.

Aesthetic experience: Nice high ABV makes me happy. It is darker in the glass then either 001 or 002. It is also the last of the old style batch bottles. I’ll need to pick up another before they are all gone.

Conclusion: This is my favorite Laphroaig CS batch that I have tasted (obviously, I haven’t had the 003). On the two nights where I put all four batches that I own up against each other this one stood out as a departure from batches 001 and 002. It seems to have more in common with batch 005. However, batch 005 is taking things in a different direction that I am not sure I like as much. For my money I wish I had more bottles of this one. I would say this is the most complex batch (perhaps tied with 001), the most medicinal, and has the biggest finish. It also holds up best over time – which is huge in my book.

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