Laphroaig Cask Strength 10 Year Old

Laphroaig 10yo CS 57.2% b 005 Feb. 13: bought 10/12/2013; opened 11/22/2013

Nose: Peat, sweet, and subtle. This has many shared characteristics with batch 004, but with a little more liquorish. This also has the darkest and most pronounced fruit notes of the night: plumbs, and dates mixed with peat, wood, smoke and liquorish. Yes, this has the most “lush” nose of the batches. It is easy to relax in the soft velvety bed of peat. It has the darkest “sweet” tones of the night – all sugar coated dark fruit. Now more wood, Thai Basil, and a hint of peat smoke. This isn’t the most complex nose, but it certainly creates a ton of images in my mind: It actually feels like a winter hike in snow covered mountains where the sun comes out and almost blinds you . . . only to duck behind a cloud and some evergreen trees. Oh, that was just unnecessary . . . but you get my meaning. This has the most “tea” like nose of the bunch . . . whatever that might mean.

Taste: Medium sweet followed by chunks of wood, ocean brine, seaweed, and moss. This batch is very “ocean” style powerful. There are also sweet fruits (dates, plumbs) and peat. Very interesting mix. This has a very strong wood flavor (bark), and is very drying compared to the other batches. This can’t stay in your mouth long or the salt takes over!

Finish: Huge intake of breath now wave after wave of pounding peat, and ocean salt spray. Huge mossy peat – woody peat. This is a peat bomb. As the waves calm down you have the foam and seaweed. It has that slightly bitter thing about Laphroaig that I love. Not the explosion of the 004, but a deep bomb of peat and iodine. It doesn’t send out ripples – just layers of peat moss, dark fruits, and a little bit of ash coat the mouth . . . and last for an age and a half.

Balance, Complexity: Complex nose for certain, it is just the least traditional “Laphroaig” style of the batches here tonight. The dark sweet fruits on the nose show up on the taste and the finish. However, the peat is the subtle star here. It intermingles on the nose, but shows up big time on the taste and finish. The 002 might be the closest to the standard Laphroaig 10yo, while the 004 batch moves in a darker direction. This batch is the next step in the evolution. I’m not sure I like it better than any of the others.

Aesthetic experience: I don’t love this new style bottle. I can see how they are trying to harken back to the old “Red Stripe” style while also including the new batch information. Sadly, I don’t think it is as successful. The batch info is hard to read. Also, I don’t love the new Prince of Wales Crest. Let me say, I don’t mind the new 10yo style bottle; I just wish they would have kept the batch stamp idea. The ABV is ok at 57.2% . . . but it is the second lowest batch . . . and I love me some high octane peat monsters.

Conclusion: I would call this the deepest, and lowest tone of the batches (001, 002, 004, and 005). It has the most dark fruit and liquorish notes. However, it lacks the strong vanilla found in 001 and 004, and the high tones of citrus. I am tempted to buy another bottle for future comparison . . . but I would much rather get another bottle of 004 or 001 (or find a 003). I have only taken notes with this guy on two occasions both times scoring 92. My expectation is that this score will lower over time. I will have to revisit it in the coming months to see how it changes. So far it is fine . . . but it makes me look forward to the next batch.

To sum up all these batches 001, 002, 004, and 005 – they are all going to give you that Laphroaig peat fix. Some are sweeter, some are stronger, some have more vanilla, some have more fruit, some are easier on the mouth – but all are good and worth the money.

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