Laphroaig Select

One word: Meh... It's thin and subdued, the peaty nose seems to do a runner on the palate (not exactly what I look for in a Laphroaig, to put it mildly). Also it's 40%abv, and doesn't say 'un-chillfiltered', which basically means it is, and it tastes like it.

Yes, I've wisely decided to spend my bottle on a better whisky. The reviews are rather harsh, maybe they'll send a clear message to the new owners of Laphroaig

It seems that Laphroaig has gotten the NAS bug. All they seem to release now are watered-down, chill-filtered NAS with pompous pseudo-Celtic names. The PX Cask was my first real disappointment; 2 years ago, and it has progressively gotten worse since. It is even rumoured that the 10yo CS is on its way out :-(

Another distillery that is just coming out with the NAS-of-the-month-with-ridiculous-names is Highland Park. A couple of years ago I wondered how the Whisky bust of the early 80's occurred ... now I understand.

@olivier BTW one has to respect Lagavulin for (so far) resisting the trend.

Very well said @olivier! I'm very sad to say you see the same thing happening over here in Japan. In particular, Suntory has been lining the shelves with NAS, sub-standard whisky in my opinion.

The reasoning that is often given is that there is simply not enough older distillate left... Possibly, but I'd rather wait for some older, better whiskies than throw away money in swill.

...on swill...

@CanadianNinja It will take them some time to restock on aged malts, let's hope that by than the whisky craze hasn't died out, for it was that same overproduction that killed nearly a quarter of the industry in the 20's and the 80's

@olivier, what fresh horror is this? Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength being discontinued? Really? Do you believe the rumours?

The problem here is that in recent years most of these age statement discontinuation rumours have been coming true.

Hmmm, 228 bottles in my county currently on sale at $ 55.58 ea, tax incl. = $ 12, 672.03. Are you reading this @Nock?

I don't think the 10 year old cask strength is being discontinued. I remember about a year or so ago they stopped selling through major UK retailers, though you could still buy directly from the distillery or, via their website. My understanding at the time was that they intended to focus the bulk of the stock at the US market. Although I'm not altogether sure where I got that info from so don't quote me.

@olivier...though the quality of Lagavulin 16 seems to have taken a noticeable hit over the past couple of years...they may have been better served by going with an NAS bottling until 16 yo stock was replenished. My next Lagavulin purchase will be the 12 yo CS.

What NAS chill filtered watered-down Laphroaig (except the new Select) are you referring to? The QC (48% abv, the highest for any widely available, non cask strength, bottle that I am aware of) has been NCF and probably one of the best quality/price bottlings in the 3+ years that I have been drinking whisky. The Cairdeas Origin (2012) is NCF, bottled at 51.2% (iirc) and alludes to having a wide range of aged whisky, though it is NAS, and has been a great resident in my cabinet.

I agree with you entirely, about Highland Park.

Can't say that I agree on HP, their HP12 had a dip in the last couple of years, but seems to be improving. As log as it doesn't hurt the core range I don't care.

As for Lagavulin, apparently it's not so much the quality that has gone down, but they changed the peat levels in the malted barley that they use. No idea why

As for Laphroaig 10 SC, they are probably not going to discontinue it, but limit their output. And make it much more excusive. Bruichladdich has done the sme with the Laddie 10 (Or at least they promised they would, still sold out in their webshop, but at least drankdozijn.nl is offering some at €45 now)

The Highland Park 18 is good right now.

That said, the Laphroaig Select (Select Cask as it is called in AUS) doesn't inspire much confidence - bottled at 40%, none too glimmering reviews, etc.

@Pudge72 There was a Laphroaig QA in the Duty Free outlets at 40% a few months ago.

@olivier the QA has been panned by many, I think they included it in Laphroaig live from New York if you wanted to hear the distillery take on it. But all the independant reviews I've come accross are not favourable.

I tried it today. I'll be honest: a nice surprise. In the nose it was actually a peat bomb, but it's very easy to drink. For some purists it may be an abomination, for somebody like me, who likes peat but not peat monsters, it was nice to drink. I enjoyed it. Yes, it lacks some character. Yes, the name is horrible. Yes, 40% is not acceptable for some. I like malts between 43 and 46, but not more. And I wouldn't pay more than $50, the rest would be hype marketing. I prefer the Triple Wood (this is Quadriple wood, kind of ridiculous), not sure how much it could last in the market... but summarizing... again, a nice surprise.

I had it at my whisky club and thought it sucked ass. It wasn't so much weak (i.e., watered down) as much as it was muddled. It was easily outclassed by Caol Ila 12, which is a pretty gentle dram by Laphroaig's usual standards.

By the way, despite earlier predictions to the contrary, Laphroaig 10 CS is going strong and remains the best damn whisky you can buy for any money. May it continue.

I've had it and think it's "ok", not very exciting. Reasonable price and decent flavors