Laphroaig QA Cask

Saw this sitting on the shelf at the duty free and took the plunge to get a bottle. Here are my findings:

Nose: Gasoline, medicinal (think band aids), burning rubber, matches, sea spray. After letting it breath, you get the addition of pear and vanilla. So basically, a Laphroaig through and through.

Taste: Light body, smooth texture, that has a rich and intense flavor. The translation from the nose is spot on. Peat spice, rubber, smoke, brine, ash, barley sweetness. The extra maturation however, makes this taste much more well put together than regular Laphroaig and gives it a smoothness that I don't recall in the other variations.

Finish: Peat, brine, ash, iodine, vanilla.

It's good Whisky, but I fail to see what, if anything, the "special" maturation adds to this dram. It has all the elements of classic Laphroaig, however, it's slight more rounded. By this I mean it's refined Laphraoig. It's not as intense as the 10 CS or as flavorful as the QC. It's more in balance than regular Laphroaig but in doing so, it sacrifices the elements that make Laphroaig what it is. I don't find this Whisky far off the mark, but I'd stick with regular 10 CS because it's just not different enough to merit the extra coin.

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