Islay

Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Batch 012, Bottled Feb 2020

60.1% ABV
$85-$110
Website

What the Distillery Says

Three words can describe Batch 12 with unfettered honesty – full, uncompromising, powerful. We invite you to uncork this particular offering of our Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength to experience the purest taste of the land, sea, and air of Islay. Its distinctive flavor comes from being barrier-filtered (which removes unwanted char particles) and then bottled directly from the barrel after a decade has passed.

This 60.1% vol cask strength full-bodied whisky is a result of this laborious process. There is a smokiness of renown present, as well as particular depths that speak to both an unrestrained sweetness and spiciness. The palate can be overwhelmed by the flavor of fudge, cinnamon, and toffee, as fragrances of leather, vanilla, and pipe tobacco fill the nose. A little watering of the whisky can reveal more features of sea salt and peat smoke.

Colour: Tawny.
Nose: Sweet cereals with biscuit notes, fresh oak, smoked cedar and Manuka honey. Amsterdam pipe tobacco, shoe polish and old leather combined with a touch of waxy church candle, vanilla cream, nutmeg and oak extracts.
Palate: Sweet and spicy, with burnt oak staves, barbecued marshmallows, toffee and sea salt, vanilla and Belgium caramel waffles. Roasted coffee fudge cream on sticky toffee pudding, with a hint of white pepper and crushed cinnamon.
Finish: Floral with spicy oak tannins, iodine and sea salt.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Smokey seaweed, wet bandages, creosote, salty sea air, hint of sulfur, bit of caramel, smoked meat with lemongrass.
Palate:  Warm and oily mouthfeel, peaty and peppery with honeyed biscuits, hint of toffee and lemon.
Finish:  Long with peat, apricots, smoke and iodine.
Comments:  Classic Laphroaig! If you don’t know, it is hard to describe in a way that sounds appealing. In my experience, Laphroaig (and most other Islay peated single malts) can be very polarizing. I don’t know many folks who are on the fence; they either like it a fair amount, or really dislike it pretty strongly. I fall into the ‘like it alot’ camp. In fact Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength (batch 003, January 2011, 55.3% ABV) was my first ever single malt scotch whisky purchase. I shared that story here so I won’t repeat it. In fact, I was down to the last 2 ounces of that bottle (which had been decanted more than once, so please hold off on the comments about air time, etc) so I decided to do a side-by-side. This batch 012 definitely had a sharper edge to it, was a bit less sweet and not quite as well balanced. I mistakenly thought I had reviewed that already and didn’t take detailed notes – sorry about that (the only other batch to date we have reviewed is batch 005 which Richard was a fan of). To be clear, while I preferred batch 003, there wasn’t anything off-putting about this one. I find that this makes an excellent smoky old fashioned, with no smoking of glass required!

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

Lagavulin Offerman Edition Aged 11 Years
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$100
Website

What the Bottle Says

“I have travelled the world and sampled many attempts at pleasing nectars, but it is solely this distillation on Islay; a tiny, charismatic Scottish isle, that has claimed my palate,
Yea, and my heart into the bargain.”
Nick Offerman

What Gary Says

Nose:  Peat, sea air, smoked fish, iodine, creosote and tar with fruit notes tucked underneath.
Palate:  Rich mouthfeel, sweet with treacle, butterscotch, peat, gentle spices, fruit and honey with peat smoke.
Finish:  Moderately long with honey and peat.
Comments:  The nose is fairly dry and acrid, like a peat fire on the coast, with some fruit notes that you have to work to find. Then the palate comes out sweetly swinging! After a couple of passes on this one, I thought to myself “Wow – I’m not sure if I might not like this as much as Lagavulin 16 yr.” I wish I had done that earlier, as I only had enough to do two blind side-by-side comparisons. In both I thought they were very similar, and I picked both as better than the other. While I’d love to have a more clear winner, the fact that this gave Lagavulin 16 a run for its money is high praise in my book. And if you are a Lagavulin fan, I think this is priced to where you’ve got to try it for yourself.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

Game of Thrones House Lannister Lagavulin 9 Yr Old
Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$50
Website

What the Distillery Says

Lagavulin is one of the most legendary single malt brands and has been crafted on the shores of Islay for more than 200 years – mirroring the meticulous calculation and tenacity employed by the Lannisters in their rise to conquer the Iron Throne. This single malt whisky is a roaring single malt that recalls the Lannister’s riches.

TASTING NOTES
APPEARANCE: Light, golden colour.
NOSE: The nose is characteristically Lagavulin with the sweet smoke that explodes on the nose with a little more brine than the other expressions.
PALATE: The palate opens with smoked caramelized banana and heavy vanilla and burnt marshmallow. which subside into a light, dry, slightly salted caramel.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Peaty with freshly shoveled earth, creosote, smokey sea air, grilled peaches and smoked pork roast.
Palate:  Viscous mouthfeel with sweet vanilla, subtle fruit, smoked brisket, hints of lemon and anise with a salty note.
Finish:  Moderately long and drying with sea smoke and peat.
Comments:  Really solid Lagavulin offering. Nothing off-putting, and I’ve seen some folks trying to move this for under $30 – and I would consider it a ‘Must Buy’ at that price (at least one to try if you haven’t). At the suggested retail around $50, it is still pretty solid.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try