Released in 2004, this bottling was aged for around five years before being finished in a quarter cask for several months, the size of the cask is quite small, thus does not require such a long maturation. This remains a truly great achievement from Laphroaig.
Oily and buttery nose, with toffee, nuttiness, hickory, bicarbonate of soda, rum and raisin ice cream and zest.
Big rush of sweetness, in fact it’s an explosion of sweetness, with fiery chilli heat, TCP, sweet cereals and a touch of cola syrup.
Medium-length, but becomes fruity, with custard and cigar smoke.
This is certainly an improvement over the 10 year, however i am still not a huge lover of that unique Laphroaig taste.
if you are looking for rich and tarry peat then this is the ticket. IMHO it id what the 10 is falling short of. Better than ardbeg 10 which is great and Caol Ila 10. Just has a leg up with that intense peat tar. Like walking past a freshly tarred road on the beach in Islay as one top reviewer said.
I have had two bottles of this now and, having got used to the sweeter finish, I think it's the best Laphroaig and nearly the best Islay malt.
I normally drink the 10 year old, but got the quater cask for Christmas, why oh why didn't I try this before!! It is a wonderful dram and highly recommended. slainte mhath from Granton Edinburgh
lovely value. nothing since comes close
