Last Year's Peat: Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016 & Lagavulin 8

Today I review two peated whiskeys that were released last year, courtesy of samples from My Annoying Opinions.

Lagavulin 8 year old, 48% abv ($60)

This was a limited release to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lagavulin Distillery. What better way to do so than with a really young whiskey?

The nose is sweet and peaty with floral notes; surprisingly, the peat doesn't blow you away. The peat comes on strong on the palate, with some light sweet notes, and it fades into a peaty finish.

This tastes exactly how you think it will taste, like a younger Lagavulin, and it's pretty good, because it's Lagavulin.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016, 51.6% abv ($85)

The 2016 Cairdeas, an annual release that varies year to year, was composed of Laphroaig finished in Madeira seasoned casks.

The nose has a lot of wine character; it mixes with the peat to produce some fuel like notes. On the palate there's that same dynamic - first wine along with some fruit notes, then peat, then fuel-like notes but with a bit of spice, likely from the Madeira. The finish is mostly peated with some spice on the palate.

What separates this from any other Laphroaig is the spicy wine notes. I'm not a huge fan of Madeira finishes, so this one wasn't for me - it just gets in the way of an otherwise good Laphroaig, but if you like that sort of thing, you'll probably really enjoy this Cairdeas.

See My Annoying Opinions' reviews of the Lagavulin 8 and Laphroaig Cairdeas 2016. 

A Date with Laphroaig: September 22, 1998

Lately, there is a ton of independently bottled Laphroaig out there that was distilled on a single day:  September 22, 1998. Last year, I was lucky enough to try a sherry aged Signatory Laphroaig bottled for La Maison du Whisky in Paris. It was one of the best new single malts I'd had in years with bold peat and sherry and an oily mouthfeel. It tasted like the good old days. That was cask 700356 distilled on Sept. 22, 1998. Then, at the end of last year, Whisky Advocate gave its Islay Single Malt of the Year award to a 1998 Signatory Laphroaig bottled for The Whisky Exchange. That one was Cask 700393 distilled on the same day. Well, The Whisky Exchange recently released another cask, 700389, from what must have been a magical day in the fall of 1998. This one has another year of age on it.

Given all of these Laphroaigs from the same day, I thought I would do a side by side. These are all aged in refill sherry casks; prices have varied from $150 to $250, mostly because of currency fluctuations.

Laphroaig 15 (Signatory), Cask 700393, Distilled September 22, 1998, Bottled Sept. 23, 2013 for The Whisky Exchange, 60.8%

The nose is fabulous, smoky and oily with BBQ brisket but also gobs of fruit.  The palate is a great balance of smoke and sherry, but in the end, the smoke wins out and the finish is heavily peated.

Laphroaig 16 (Signatory), Cask 700389, Distilled September 22, 1998, Bottled Feb. 6, 2015 for The Whisky Exchange, 59.9% (£120)

The nose just explodes in peat, smoke and bacon, then you get the fruit, like an orchard buried in peat. Pretty soon your nose has gotten used to the peat explosion and you're getting pears, plums and grapes, maybe even some floral notes.  The palate is softer than you would expect from the nose. The peat is thick and sharp and comes on first. Once you acclimate to it, the sherry notes are sweet, but not too intense and without any trace of sulfur. Despite the proof, it doesn't feel too strong. The finish is well balanced between the strong peat notes and the sweetness of the sherry.

Between the two bottles from The Whisky Exchange, the 2013 bottling is heavier on the peat while the 2015 bottling is heavier on the sherry.  Both are great, it's just a matter of where the balance falls.

Next, I did a side by side tasting of these two with the sister cask from La Maison du Whisky that I reviewed here.  The La Maison du Whisky bottling blows the other two away.  It's a powerhouse of oily peat with dry sherry giving it texture. The Whisky Exchange bottlings, which are great whiskeys, fold in the presence of this old-fashioned peat monster.

All three of these are great  bottles, and there are a lot more Laphroaigs from the same date, but some have a very different character, particularly those bottled as part of Signatory's Un-Chill Filtered Collection (regular shaped bottles) as opposed to the Cask Strength Collection (wide bottles). For instance, the K&L Laphroaig I reviewed a few weeks ago was a Signatory Un-Chill Filtered Collection bottling from that date aged in a sherry cask, but while it was good, it had very little sherry influence and was a very different character of malt than the more sherry-heavy bottlings I tasted today. The same can be said of Cask 700388, an American bottling from the same date bottled as part of the Un-Chill Filtered Collection which had little in the way of sherry character, so it seems like the bigger sherry numbers are going into the Cask Strength Collection.

Whatever was going on at Laphroaig 17 years ago this month was something special. I would keep your eyes open over the next few years for more 9/22/98 Laphroaig, particularly those bottled by Signatory as part of their Cask Strength Collection.

UPDATE: Some have speculated that the bottlings from this day were made from barley malted in-house by Laphroaig, as opposed to barley from Port Ellen Maltings.  I'm following up and will post another update if I find out anything definitive.

Thanks to PZ, SB and Daniel Laurence for samples of these whiskeys.

K&L Sale Scotches

K&L has recently lowered the price on a number of their exclusive barrel picks, so I picked some up...because I'm a sucker for a sale.

BenRiach 1994 Peated, 19 years old, Cask 7187, Bourbon Barrel, 53% abv ($110)

The nose has heavy, sharp peat. The palate has sweet peat notes and then gets a bit sour.  It has a great peaty finish on the nose.  This is very BenRiach with its sharp peat notes.  It's a bit one note, as the peated BenRiachs tend to be, but it's quite decent.


Bowmore 2001 Signatory, 12 years old, Cask 1371, Refill Sherry, 59.1% abv ($59)

The nose opens with honeycomb candy (or Bit-O-Honey for those that remember that). Then, there are some fuel type notes, like you dropped your Bit-O-Honey in a mysterious puddle at the mechanic's shop, plus peat and sulfur. The palate opens with a similar mix of flavors - lots of honey plus peaty, fuel type notes. Then there are some sulfur notes which come to dominate the late palate. The finish is mostly peat.  This one is a bit weird, but I like it. It's sweet and bold and leaves you feeling peaty, and for $60, it's a great deal.


Laphroaig 1998 Signatory, 15 years old, Cask 700386, Refill Butt, 59.1% abv ($127)

The nose has tropical fruit. The palate is pure peaty Laphroaig with a very light fruitiness that stays on the palate for the finish, but the nasal exhale of the finish is pure peat.  If this was indeed, aged in a sherry cask, it must have been used multiple time as there is almost no sherry character, but it's quite good as a straight forward Laphroaig...tastes like something that could have been a distillery bottling.


That's three very solid peaters from K&L.  They were all good, but the Laphroaig was my favorite, followed by the Bowmore and then the BenRiach.  That being said, I generally tend not to favor BenRiachs as much as some others do; if you're a BenRiach fan, you may well like that one the best.

New K&L Scotch: Old Particular

Next in my series of K&L exclusive barrels are whiskies from Douglas Laing, including one blend under K&L's Faultline label and four single malts bottled in 2014 under the Old Particular label.  Unlike yesterday's Hepburn's Choice malts, these are not cask strength.

Faultline Blended Scotch, 50% ($25)

The nose is malty in a sort of Clynelish style.  It's got some coastal notes but also some floral.  The palate opens with sweet peat.  The peat is present but not overwhelming, and the sweetness gives it a sort of candy coating.  The mouthfeel is light.  The finish is peaty and, for the first time, shows some grain whiskey notes. A minute later the sweetness is back adding a chocolate note to the grain, like Ovaltine.

This is a very solid blend with some good peat action, and at $25, it's a no-brainer.  The price to quality ratio is insanely good.

Laphroaig 16 yo, Old Particular, distilled 1997, 48.4% abv ($140)

The nose is pure Laphroaig with big, funky, peaty notes. The palate starts with big peat but gradually develops a sweet wine note, but the peat comes back for the finish along with some BBQ smoke.  This is very tasty. It's everything you would want from a 16 year old Laphroaig.

Tamdhu 16 yo, Old Particular, distilled 1998, 48.4% abv ($100)

This has a very fruity nose with pears.  The palate is malty/spicy with some sweetness. There's a nice balance between the sweet and spicy notes.  The finish is a peppery white wine, like a Gerwurztraminer.  I really like this one. It's sugar and spice and everything nice.  

Tobermory 18 yo, Old Particular, distilled 1996, 48.4% abv ($110)

The nose is malty/fruity with mild peat.  The palate is rich with light peat, growing stronger as it goes down and trailing off into the finish with a touch of mint.  This is a really nice one as well.   

Macallan 21 yo, Old Particular, distilled 1993, 51.5% abv ($250)

The nose is sweet and fruity.  The palate starts sweet but gets drier.  It then develops a peppery note that adds complexity and moves it into the finish.  This is from a refill bourbon cask, and while I haven't been a huge fan of bourbon cask Macallans in the past, this one is really good.  I'd always associated the Macallan profile with sherry, but something about this feels very Macallan even without the sherry influence.  Would I pay $250 for it?  Well, I haven't yet, but I wouldn't rule it out.

This was a very good set of malts.  As a whole, I liked them better than yesterday's selection, though they are also more expensive.  My favorites were the Macallan and the Tobermory followed by the Laphroaig, but they were all quite good.

Tomorrow: Scotch Single Grain Whiskies

Thanks to David Othenin-Girard for the samples.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013: Port Wood Edition

This is the third edition of Laphroaig's annual Cairdeas bottling.  This year's edition spent eight years in bourbon casks and an additional 14 months in port casks.

Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013 - Port Wood Edition, 51.3% abv ($60)

The nose is peat with burning plastic (though not in a bad way, if that makes any sense).  The palate is smoky campfire embers, and the finish is lots of smoke and a touch of acid. I don't get much in the way of port influence on this.

This is a very nice solid peater, that's very drinkable, packing a good, smoky, punch.  It reminds me of the more peated, less sweet style of Islay whiskies that was prevalent a decade ago.  I'd say it's a step above the 2012 Cairdeas release. 

Laphroaig Cask Strength and Cairdeas

It's been a while since I sampled any Laphroaigs so I thought I would dip into their standard offerings.

Laphroaig 10 year old Cask Strength, Batch 004, 58.6% ($60)

I've been a fan of the 10 year old cask strength since it first came out, but having not tried it in a few years, I was interested to see how it has held up.  

The nose is peaty and medicinal with a sweet malt note in the background.  The palate starts off sweet with a nice spiciness (bay leaves and ginger) and some pepper, and the finish has Black pepper on the palate and peat on the nose.

I'm happy to report that this is still a very solid malt at a very decent price.  It's got everything you would want from a Laphroaig with peat, spice and those medicinal notes.

Laphroiag Cairdeas, 2012 Release, 51.2% ($65)

The 2012 release combines some of the spirit used in the first Cairdeas with quarter cask matured whiskey.  This stuff is medicinal and peaty through and through with some coastal elements coming through on the finish.  This is textbook Laphroaig.

Th Cairdeas is nice, but given the similarity in price, I would opt for the cask strength if I had to choose between the two. 

Whiskey Wednesday: Young and Smoky Part 2 -- A Young Laphroaig

Laphroaig 1999, 7 years old, cask strength, Bottled by Signatory for Binny's Beverage Depot, 58% alcohol ($44).

Binny's Beverage Depot is a major Chicago-based liquor store which does a big internet business (and they ship to California). This bottle was a special bottling for Binny's by well known independent bottler Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky Company, which goes for around $44.

This bottling interested me for a couple of reasons. First, you don't see that many Laphroaigs by independent bottlers in the US, though they are apparently quite common in the UK. Second, I have never tasted a Laphroaig younger than the standard 10 year old.

The 7 year old tasted exactly as you would guess if you're a regular Laphroaiger. It's a younger, brasher version of the elder. As soon as you smell it, and definitely when you taste it, you think, oh yeah, this is Laphroaig all right. It has all of the medicinal flavors ("iodine, seaweed and phenols" for the Scotch snobs out there) that are classic Laphroaig. Of all the peat monsters out there, Laphroaig differentiates itself by these strong medicinal flavors, and this malt has them in a bolder, more intense way.

This wasn't my favorite of the young malts, but I really enjoyed it, and if you are a Laphroaig lover, this is a must-have bottle for you at a good price.

Next Wednesday: Ardbeg Almost There

Whiskey Wednesday: Trader Joe's Scotch

Getting Started: Visit Trader Joe's

If you live in California, there is no better place to start sampling single malts than your local Trader Joe's. TJ's carries some excellent malts at excellent prices from a variety of Scottish regions (we'll talk about the regions at some later date). Here are some you can start with. (For you out of towners, TJ's is a popular discount gourmet store.)

Glenfiddich, 12 year old, Speyside Region

Glenfiddich is the world's most popular single malt. If you've never had a single malt before, you should try it. And even though I feel I have outgrown it, I have a soft spot for the first single malt I tried and the one that served me dutifully for years before I got more adventurous. Glenfiddich sold me on its smoothness...it has no harshness; it's light and pleasant. It is a malt stripped down to its maltiness and a good example of the smooth, mellow style of the popular Speyside region. TJ's price: $23.99

Dalwhinnie 15 year old, Highlands

Like Glenfiddich but more so, Dalwhinnie is super smooth but with a richer taste. You start to see the complexity that scotch can have. I think it smells sort of grassy, maybe that's what they call floral. I get some vanilla in there too, wait there's more: honey, heather, treacle...Noooo. Hey, you were supposed to stop me. Anyway, you get the drift. TJ's price: $41.99

Dalmore, 12 year old, Northern Highlands

Now we get to the good stuff. I think of all the malts on this list, I like Dalmore the best. I generally like Northern Highlander malts. They are rugged, pungent and complex. Dalmore doesn't smell like flowers; it smells like the earth and tastes like the sea. The oak of the barrel comes through and right at you - screaming WOOD. It is complex and thick and if you hold it in your mouth it actually gets a bit sweet. This is rugged whiskey for rugged people living on rugged terrain. And at $22.99 at TJ's, it's about the best deal you will ever find for a malt of its quality.

Laphroaig, 10 year old, Islay

Here it is in all its smoke and glory: Laphroaig 10 year old. The most affordable of the smokers. This is your typical south Islay, with all its peat smoke, medicinal flavors and oily textures. I'm an Islay fan and a smoke fan and if you've never had a scotch with powerful smoke, Laphroaig is a good place to start: TJ's price: $29.99


There you have it. A fabulous one-stop intro to scotch for about $120 (an amount a scotch nut could easily spend on a single bottle). And remember, unlike say, wine, which you have to drink within days of popping the cork, an open bottle of scotch can last for years (though mine never seem to). So, you get more for your money.

TJ's also has its own line of private label independent bottlings; I've seen them from Aberlour, Glenlivet, Macallan and Bowmore, but haven't tasted any yet...maybe that will be a future tasting.

Next Whisky Wednesday: Lagavulins Young and Old