Laphroaig 10 Year Old is an iconic Islay single malt whisky, renowned for its heavily peated profile. Expect intense smoke, medicinal iodine, and a hint of seaweed. This whisky captures the bold spirit of Islay and is one of Scotland's most characterful drams. Islay's world-famous Laphroaig distillery is known for its medicinal malts, and its signature 10-year-old is no exception thanks to its full maturation in bourbon barrels, which serves to highlight that individual distillery character. This beauty has won a slew of industry awards over the decades and we love it.
Non-chill filtered for maximum flavour. A must-have for peat lovers!"
Our tasting notes feature a contribution from the longest-serving distillery manager in the brand's history, the wonderful John Campbell, who worked at Laphroaig from 1994 until 2021.
This opens on big, smoky muscular peat notes. There are spices, and liquorice, as well as a big dose of salt. This whisky has become slightly sweeter in recent years, and it appears beautifully on the nose, amidst the classic iodine/sticking plasters and cool wood smoke we love.
Seaweed-led, with a hint of vanilla ice cream and more than a whiff of notes from the first aid box (TCP, plasters etc). The oak is big, and muscles its way into the fore as you hold this whisky over your tongue. An upsurge of spices develop – cardamom/black pepper/chilli.
Big and drying, as the savoury, tarry notes build up with an iodine complexity.
The only malt from Laphroaig’s range that John Campbell recommends with water; try it, it opens up the palate massively, providing a dazzling array of additional flavours…
A unique taste! Smells like the smoke from a bonfire, recently cut and rolled turf after the rain. With a whiff of the natural bark of a liquorice stick when first broken in two. Tastes of a mixture of aniseed balls and black pepper and the saltiness of samphire.
This is the peaty malt, of peaty malts. You may hate this on first taste. But you will love it on your second taste. After that , nothing compares.
Definitely smokey but mild totally different to many single malts think you will love it or loathe it
My first experience with Scotch. Totally funky band-aid box and peat aromas and tastes that are even harder to describe but wait... the magic begins and you realize the well is much deeper than you previously thought! Full of complexities and surprises this one but beware, Laphroaig is not for the clandestine drinker because the aromas that emanate when you let the genie out of this bottle, everyone in the room will know you have!
Ordered this at a local bar. Thought to myself, I like a bit of peaated smoke. It was served to me and the nose was complex and rich. Smoky, yes, but promising. And then I took my sip. I hated it. Many people associate with medicine, and I could see that. The smoke was overpowering and downright cruel. After a few minutes I took a sip. A few minutes later I took another. As I got used to the whisky, the whisky got used to me. My lesson would be, you can't just jump on this whisky. You have to let it creep up on you. treat it with respect, give it time to open up, don't expect it to be anything it's not. I kept coming back to it over and over, and by the time I was done it was like an old friend. I could taste it walking down the road home 20 minutes later. Even the finish seems to change, becoming richer, that lingering smoke almost chewy. This is a fantastic whisky for it's price. It should be tried by everyone, loved by few, hated by some, but never leaving anyone undecided. Just give it a second, third and fourth chance and, who knows, it may change your mind. A poor man's Lagavulin 16, this makes a fine addition to any collection. You may find yourself coming back to it, even when you're not sure why.
