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…
Undoubtedly smokey. Beyond that, I can't comprehend how this could be enjoyable to anyone whose sense of taste is still intact. After one drink I was met with a case of shaky-chest and left with a disgusting taste that was tough to erase.
40 years ago my first Scotch was Johnny Red. We all start somewhere, and I liked it. As I have evolved, I began to learn about whiskey. Laphroaig 10 is my drink of choice. I keep other singles and blends around, but when I want to ride the flavor train this is the one I reach for. For those who don't like it, as your taste matures, this is where you will end up.
It's hard to enjoy any other Scotch the same after this. It's like going from Moscato to a good Cab, or from Coors Light to Guinness. You'll drink them, but they won't ever taste the same. Laphroig 10 Yr is special and deserves a class of it's own.
....but this was the first dram I could not finish; it was vile! The nose was medicinal with shoe polish, and the taste, for me, was very unpleasant. I was surprised, I really like Lagavulin, Caol Ila and Talisker but this was so different. Not for me!
I've gone through a few bottles of this and generally been happy, but my most recent bottle had a very strong plaster-y aroma. I understand that this is within the normal range of flavors but this time it was very oddly pronounced, though it weakens after letting it settle for a bit.
