Scotch Whisky Review: 10 Year Cask Strength, Sherry Finish, Cairdeas Warehouse 1, and Port & Wine Casks Laphroaig
I am a big fan of Laphroaig, especially their quarter-cask which is widely available, cheap, and delicious. Definitely in my top 5 contenders for answering “if you could only drink one whisky the rest of your life?” Let’s see how these stand out.
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch 12 / 60.1%
Tasted neat
Batch 12 of the Laphroaig 10 year old Cask Strength was bottled on February 7th, 2020 after being aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon wood. A pretty large vatting, we don’t get to know how many bottles were released or anything more! The back label reads:
Emphatic, full bodied and utterly unforgettable. 10 Year Old Original Cask Strength Laphroaig is the authentic way to experience the rugged character of our uncompromising Scotch whisky. It is an Islay single malt that is barrier-filtered only and bottled at natural cask strength. This gives a depth of genuine tasting and texture normally associated with sampling a whisky at its source.
This is my second time around, I previously reviewed it here, but didn’t feel like dropping it from the lineup so we’ll have a second take today!
- Color: russet (1.3)
- Nose: tar, peat smoke, burned rubber, tarmac, iodine, black liquorish; phenolic
- Taste: big peaty BBQ smoke, roast smores, a touch of strawberry, burnt lemon, and thick, rich, oily bandaids
- Finish: long, the intensity fades to a soothing peat lozenge with caramel and vanilla
This still goes extremely hard, it’s deliciously fantastic, and unbeatable for the price.
Rating: 8/10
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Sherry Oak Finish / 48%
Tasted neat
Not much is known about the Laphroaig 10 Sherry Oak Finish except that it spent some unknown period of time finishing in Oloroso sherry casks. I would guess 6–12 months? It is bottled at a higher 48%, which is nice, but the cost in Japan is extortionate; ¥14,000 or thereabouts.
- Color: burnt umber (1.7)
- Nose: pine needles, iodine, acetone, dry sherry, cornbread, and caramel
- Taste: sappy pine, a kind of spicy sherry; iodine, a little peat; stewed plum and pickled ginger
- Finish: medium; a little sweet, peaty, with some icing sugar and cinnamon
Quite darker than the pure ex-bourbon 10 year CS, these sherry casks have done some work here. Unfortunately, this comes in about three different layers that I don’t think are married long enough: the very piney top layer, a dry sherried layer, and then a classic Laphroaig 10 layer.
I am not including the price as part of my scoring, even though I think it’s a little on the higher side. My problem with this, and a lot of finishes in general, is that if not managed carefully, they can disenhance the original quality of the spirit. I don’t think someone who loves Laphroaig will love this.
Rating: 4/10
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2022 Warehouse 1 / 52.2%
Tasted neat
Laphroaig’s 2022 Cairdeas Warehouse 1 for Feis Ile 2022 and the Friends of Laphroaig online club is exclusively matured in first-fill ex-Maker’s Mark bourbon barrels, and spent its time maturing in their fabled coastline Warehouse #1. This whisky is not cask-strength, but they’ve chosen a fairly high-proof 52.2% strength for the batch. The price, at €71 ex-VAT, is also quite reasonable.
- Color: deep gold (0.8)
- Nose: briny, salty peat, butter, lemon rind, honeysuckle, and green grape skins
- Taste: phenolic band-aids, thick vanilla ice cream, jasmine, petrichor, and raspberry jam
- Finish: long and sweet, with lots of vanilla and cane sugar
This is a very clean-style Laphroaig that masks a little bit of the spirit’s nature with a dressing up of very sweet ex-Maker’s casks. “A Laphroaig milkshake”, if I had to put it in just three words. Very nice!
Rating: 7/10
Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 Port & Wine Casks / 52%
Tasted neat
The Laphroaig Cairdeas 2020 is a blend of ex-bourbon and second fill ruby Port barriques that have been married together in red wine casks of unknown provenance. The fact the distillery highlights a marrying period is exciting, we might get an integrated final result.
- Color: tawny (1.4)
- Nose: classic Laphroaig kelpy peat smoke and salt; musty vegetation, some spicy berries, and sawdust and leather
- Taste: thick, oily honey and caramelized berries on-top smoked pistachio and graham crackers; some fruity wine notes, apple
- Finish: medium; sweetness gives way to lingering iodine and salt
Celebrating friendship, this marriage of ex-bourbon and ex-port casks in ex-wine casks works; the spirit is integrated, still undeniably Laphroaig, but softened and teased into fruitier, semi-dry expressions. Unlike the 10 year old Sherry finish, I am not tasting this in distinct layers; it’s a fully married bottling.
Rating: 7/10
