Laphroaig 18 Year

When I first exploring whisky and getting into the nuances of aromas, flavors and learning more about regions and the varieties within the regions, I gravitated toward Islay produced scotch. The big three: Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Laphroaig were doing their thing and keeping it simple. NAS versus aged-stated whisky, non-chilled filtering were big debates and who was the best Islay. Variations were essentially limited but quality was high. All three produced exceptional product and prices were reasonable. I gravitated towards Laphroaig. Fast forward to today and the what do I see? Laphroaig by and large is holding steady with their range and producing quality at a reasonable price. Lagavulin has branched out extending their marketing with deals with Nick Offerman, but has largely kept to its standards. Ardbeg has, in my opinion, has gone balls out and anything it makes they label it and sell it, confusing the loyalists with noise. Too many offerings to count and high prices. Does this cheapen their good will/brand (I will leave this for debate but I have my opinion)? Where am I going with all this? This sample of Laphroaig 18 brings me back to that period of time with this sample from a long time back from Spirited Pied-piper @PBMichiganWolverine who benevolently shares and graciously provided me a sample that I will enjoy tonight. N: Unmistakable Laphroaig smokey sweetness immediately in your face. Not muscular or punchy but refined and sophisticated. Wonderful. An aroma that can be nosed all day. Iodine, lemonade, black tea, honey, apricots, shucked oysters, butterscotch, caramel apples, white pepper. The nose incorporates about every good quality of scotch. Visions of September oyster roast on warmed afternoon. P: Softly encroaching on the palate with a light and peppery bite. Irish and Lapsang souchong tea with honey. Smoked brisket with brown sugar bbq sauce provides briny, savory flavors that tends to water the mouth. Salted caramel in wrapped milk/dark chocolate. Almonds and oranges, cinnamon. As it opens, it the brown sugar intensifies, blissfully so. F: A long finish that you are glad that stays around as you want to keep all that goodness as long as possible. Charred oak, brown sugar that devolves to caramel over vanilla custard. Cigar tobacco ultimately remains on the palate indefinitely with the butterscotch sweetness. O: An amazing artistic expression. Perfect strokes of aromas and flavors. A Starry Night, a Madam Monet and Her Son. Why Laphroaig discontinued producing this, I don’t know. But it’s a force. When it was readily available, it was attractively affordable and fitting perfectly in the range of their 10 and 15 year old offerings. The NAS Lore replaced this (which I have not enjoyed yet enjoyed). The balance is spot on with sweetness, dryness, smokiness, and savoriness. The flavors are never ending, vibrant, apparent and work together synergistically, like a team of crew rowers or brush stokes on a painting. Many thanks to my long-time Distiller mate @PBMichiganWolverine for sharing this long, long ago. [98/100][Tasted: 12/8/23]

This was sadly discontinued a few years ago. So when I saw this in a store while visiting a friend, I had to grab it. Especially because of the positive reviews I've read around here. But also because I knew I may never have another chance to try this. So let's get into it. Nose: Similarly to the new 16 year-old Lap, the peat is turned down here. Not quite to that degree though. Lots of brine, sea salt, and seaweed. A bit of campfire smoke and sulfur in the background. Iodine and band-aid, with a bit of tennis ball. Cream, toffee, and vanilla. Apple and pear, peach. Maybe apple pie? Orange and lemon citrus. Plenty of fruit to be sure. Interesting for Laphroaig. There's also some jammy sweetness. A bit of caramel, and as you'd imagine with 18 years in the barrel, plenty of oak. Great, great nose. Palate: The peat is much more pronounced here. Campfire smoke all day, heavily supported by sea salt, seaweed, and iodine, a bit of that tennis ball. Same as the nose, but all hits much harder, especially the smoke, reminiscent of younger bottlings. Orange, nectarine, tangerine, grapefruit, and lemon citrus. Walnut, chestnut, and salted almond. Salted caramel and soft pretzel. BBQ, brisket notes. Some apple mixed in there. Black pepper and oak spice. Vanilla, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and more jammy sweetness. Wow. I'm writing a damn novella to describe what I'm tasting. And it's all unbelievably good. Finish: All the chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and tart notes hit first. Then the smoke, salinity, and medicinal notes surface. Apple, pear, and orange pop up next. Finally, it shift from orchard fruit to black pepper and oak, and then one final wave of smoke and sea salt to round what makes for a long, drying finish. As is the customary of elite Islay whiskies, I feel like I've just spent a day at the beach. Superb finish. Another winner from Laphroaig. And from a generation gone by, at this point. It's the first Laphroaig I've seen with this style of bottle/packaging. And I'm incredibly grateful that I stumbled upon it despite being late to the party. This is a truly spectacular bottle, and I find the discontinuation of this line to be perplexing. This one has really developed since I first cracked it open. It felt restrained and a bit of flat compared to my expectations. A meticulously-aged beauty like this one deserves some time to oxidation and come into its own. That's the take away here; it's absolutely phenomenal juice. Remarkable from start to finish, but I'll point out that the palate is on another level. It's what makes this one a true masterpiece. Buy on sight, no questions asked.

Nose: Smoke, oak and a host of warm sawdust aromas combine seamlessly to create an elegantly sophisticated nose that is more than the sum of its parts. Suggestions of vanilla, honey, brine, iodine, seaweed, black tea, grapefruit, leather, moist earth (dunnage earth) and ground spices. The distinctive Laphroaig "hospital antiseptic" aroma has muted with age to create a smoky creosote background. In combination it's like a display of polished amber presented on black velvet. With time in the glass the nose gains even greater depth and coherence. Give it at least 15 minutes before tasting and keep nosing all the time. Palate: After the delicacy of the nose, the palate comes as a slight surprise - this whisky is by no means aged and infirm. The arrival is well defined, smoky, slightly dry and a little spicy. In the development it becomes spicy, nutty and creamy. The palate is full of sweet smoke with nuances of tar, bitter lemon, vanilla, avocado and honey - similar to the nose but in a more authoritative form. The spice that appears in the development stays through into the finish. It is warming and soothing on the throat. Finish: Long and lingering, spicy, a good saltiness and just the faintest hint of the trademark Laphroaig licorice. The licorice remains, and is the final flavour, along with a slight bittersweet tang of 90% dark chocolate, a touch of mint, and quite a bit of smoke. A really satisfying finish and aftertaste This whisky has a very nice texture that is both mouth-coating and dry, and 48% abv is perfect to carry it. The critical factor with enjoying it is time - you need to dedicate at least an hour to the dram. Patience. Any comments that this whisky is lacking in peat smoke are, IMHO, based on hurried tastings. It is delicious neat and the only reason to add water is to enjoy a slightly different profile, but please don't drown it, I beg you - just a couple of drops. This enhances both the nose and palate without changing them substantially - everything gains a little fullness, the spice and sweet notes seem to weld together and the smoke is ... well, "blown around in the glass" is the only way I can put it. Not amplified exactly, but uplifited as if by a breeze. This is an excellent whisky that is sadly just about unavailable (I happened to obtain a bottle by chance recently, and I don't know if there is any left in the country now). I certainly hope that in a few years, if their stocks have built up, Beam Suntory will issue another Laphroaig 18 as good as this. "Excellent" : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

I’m playing with some new black opaque Glencairns that I bought by doing some crazy blind tastings; and I’ve found that without any visual clues, I am completely hopeless in trying to guess a whisky and am forced to just pick preferences based solely on smell and taste. By far the craziest result so far came from this line-up: Brora 37 year old (2015 official bottling at 50.4%) Caol Ila 31 year old (2015 Signatory bottling at 47.0%) Laphroaig 18 year old (2016 official bottling at 48.0%) Laphroaig 19 year old (2015 Cadenhead bottling at 54.0%) Laphroaig 32 year old (2015 official bottling at 46.7%) Talisker 1985 Maritime Edition (2013 official bottling at 56.1%) So, the top 5 in this line up were very close. My clearcut least favorite was… the humble Laphroaig 32 year old. And my favorite sip from the line up, more enjoyable than the $1500 Brora, was… Laphroaig 18 year old. What!? I don’t know what to make of these blind tastings. On the one hand, it is evidence that, based on smell and taste alone, very expensive whiskies may not be superior to more affordable ones. On the other hand, without a blindfold, I would rather have Laphroaig 32. I mean, just unlatching that copper latch gives me all types of prejizz feelings. But I have to give credit to Laphroaig 18. If the distillery put this shit in a giant wooden box with a copper latch and copper lettering, and then lied and said it was 38 years old, I would probably have been happy paying a thousand dollars or more. This might be the perfectly balanced Laphroaig. It is just old enough to get some crazy tropical fruit flavors from the bourbon cask, and it is just young enough to still retain that medicinal, iodine character of Laphroaig. It is just old enough and proofed high enough to be oily, savory, and lingering in the finish; it is just young enough to be bold and explosive when it first hits your palate. For beating 5 other more expensive whiskies, Laphroaig 18 must get 3 stars. Score: *** (I am not worthy) How much does a bottle cost?: This was $80-120. Secondary market pricing now ranges $300-800 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $350

(White tube version) 48% abv Non-chill filtered Color added Nose: rich and complex, with a potent but far from overpowering peat smoke of road tar, medicinal and martine notes. Other notes include floral; dark chocolate fudge; lime; vanilla; brine; damp oak wood; sweet dark fruits like plum and raisin. Also a hint of herbs like parsley along with baked goods...gingerbread, perhaps? So much happening here. Taste: full, sweet, savory and oily. Medium bodied. The peat smoke spice hits you first but quickly makes room for an explosion of other subtle notes. I seem to pick up something new each time.l, especially after leaving sit in the glass with a few drop of water in it. In no particular order: chili pepper; lime citrus; vanilla; cinnamon sugar; caramel; floral; fudge; toffee; sea salt; umami from a hint of seaweed and fish sauce; teriyaki bbq; nuttiness like hazelnut or almond; bitter herb. Finish: medium and buttery. A slight ashy peat lingers along with sweets like vanilla, red apple and raw honey, also dark chocolate espresso, almond, lime juice/salt like from the rim of a margarita glass, menthol, and a slight tartness which reminds me of pomegranate. Value: this is discontinued, so if you see it on a shelf it may be as little as $100 (buy immediately) otherwise prepare to spend hundreds on the secondary market. Final thoughts: What a whisky. This was a dynamite expression from Laphroaig, pure and simple. It’s complexity simply mesmerizes, and has a balance so integrated it makes this 48% malt drink like its a 40%. The signature peat smoke is there, but it’s part of the orchestra with this Laphroaig. The finish is a littler shorter than I’d want, but it’s such a minor ding that it was almost not worth even mentioning. It’s a damn shame this work of art is not still available, but I’ll say this: you only live once, so if you see this for even $200, pull the trigger. Score: 4.5/5 Highly recommend buying a bottle. (I’ve got a few green tube versions as well which I’ll compare to this in the near future.)

I had the privilege of trying a sample of this discontinued whiskey thanks to Davie Warner. I took my time to appreciate this, and actually nosed the bottle at random times for a few days before pouring out a dram. The peat has mellowed out a lot in the additional 8 years of aging, so do not expect the standard Laphroaig full-frontal assault. It's less bonfire, more Encyclopedia Britannica -- think a shelf of aged, leather-bound tomes. There's also a healthy dose of brine and seaspray. Underneath these classic Laphroaig signatures is a much sweeter and more succulent layer of cured, salted ham, neroli, and tangerine or orange. The fruit flavors creep forward over time and eventually outshine the peat, which fades into the background. The palate almost trembles with flavor on entry, and it's quite intensely fruity. After a flood of tangerines and mandarin oranges (I almost imagine a cocktail mixing Cointreau and Laphroaig in equal measures), there are also some hints of tropical fruit and toffee. The peat provides nice balance here, in combination with some oak backbone, but it's a subtle, toasted flavor, rather than a smoke. It's also, as Gordon Ramsay would say, perfectly seasoned (meaning a healthy pinch of salt). It finishes like an Aztec chocolate bar -- dark chocolate, chili pepper flecks, some orange peel, and salt on the lips. There is almost something sherried about it, a berry-like sweetness at the end. The finish stretches forever, and has a mouth-drying sensation similar to Highland Park 18, with some pepperiness as well. A superb scotch, for occasions when a more restrained peat is appropriate. The best comparison I can draw is that it's somewhere halfway between Highland Park 18 and Laphroaig 10.