Laphroaig QA (40%, OB, ex-Bourbon & Un-Charred American Oak Barrels, b. ca. 2024): I have a dreary memory of QA, but this is much nicer than I expected. It has barbecued courgette, scorched earth, and a dash of citrus juice. Burnt hazel follows, with a whiff of smoked ham too, hanging in the distance. When it comes to that citrus juice, it is a sweet kind, calamansi or mandarine, rather than lime, and it appears to be sprayed on oysters. Inexorably, however, tarry sands rise and rise. The second nose is in line, maybe tamer. Mouth: ooft! If it feels a tad watery, it is definitely sea water. Very salty and petrolic, it is close to a spoonful of sea water from a puddle on a tarry-sand beach. One can almost taste that characteristic rainbow-like colour pattern caused by petrol on a water surface. Chewing reveals very-shy tangerines, including the mild bitterness of their skin, though it is virtually eclipsed by sandy oysters washed with petrol. This is absurdly petrolic. And, after liquid petrol subsides a little, we find ourselves licking tyres, which is just another oil product, of course. Charred pork skewers make a late appearance, though, which restores some interest. As was the case on the nose, the second sip does not see much deviation. Oysters may turn into urchins, salty, sprinkled with sweet citrus, and covered in petrol. Finish: burnt tyre, baked rubber seals, tar. Citrus has now virtually gone, and sea water is reduced to the moisture of tarry sands. Confusingly, it does not seem long a finish, yet that rubbery, tarry note clings to the palate for dear life. Looking for it, one might detect a sooty lick from the back of a chimney, yet I reckon it is still burnt tyre instead. The second gulp gives a nice fruit turnover, baked to perfection. That is quickly overtaken by petrol-laden sea water. What is new is that lingering combination of sphagnum moss and stagnant water, one that makes me think of the Tyrone whiskey -- again, after a similar experience only last week. 7/10
Laphroaig 10yo 1994/2005 (52.5%, Creative Whisky Company Exclusive Malts): nose: incredible! The first whiff is a soured-cream punch in the face. It is not undrinkable (the cream), but the edge of the carton are turning pink, and it is time to empty it. Past that, we have warmed cardboard (clean), spring wood, drying in preparation for winter, and the most minute smoke. That is unexpected, because it felt very smoky, last time we tried it. A few minutes in, it gives pineapple skins (it is they that are gently smoked), and cut branchlets, the result of a day's pruning shrubs. It takes a lot of time and insistence before this nose turns dry, and closer to an old car's engine, with all the oxidised metals, cooked oils, and engine fumes that entails. Tilting the glass, we even note roasted barley and dusty hay. The second nose sees overheated plastic containers with rubber seals -- contents unclear; likely nuts or dried pasta, if not breakfast cereals. Billows of soft smoke emerge from those containers, surprisingly subtle. Mouth: here, the roasted barley is on steroids. It is almost a bother, actually. Chewing adds mocha pudding, then re-ignites the engine, bringing back hot, corroded metal, engine fumes, and baked oil. Caramel puffed wheat could be spot on, provided the heat to puff the wheat were generated by a diesel engine. The second sip has a chemical sweetness that is dangerously close to vulgar. Too much corn syrup, in other words. Overly-sweetened breakfast cereals and gelatinous pudding, industrial toffee or stale dehydrated Turkish delights. Finish: big, not brash, it is a bowl of mocha pudding and a cup of liqueur coffee, both made on a diesel cooker. If there is a wood fire in the house, its scent is eclipsed by that of the diesel. Smoked barley is in the background, as are toasts from yesterday, that have lost most of their fragrance, along with the appeal their freshness gave them. Repeated quaffing adds smoked toffee (not to be confused with smoked tofu), and, at last, a sign that we are still at the same distillery: stagnant water or vase water. At the same time, with the significant shift in ABV, this may well appear medicinal to some. Indeed, that greenish-greyish vase water is at such a strength that it could be mistaken for surgical or rubbing alcohol, or even an industrial cleaning agent. This is rustic, simple, and efficient. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, kruuk2)
Laphroaig 2017/2023 (58.5.%, Cask Sample, Fino Sherry Cask, C#899): nose surprisingly (or not), this could hardly be more different. Here are honeys, pouring and set, rich and luscious, and made of dark wild flowers. It has some wood too, acacia and oak, elegant and refined. Thirty minutes of breathing emphasise that with billowing cigar smoke and Sherry copitas in a wood-panelled lounge that contains teak furniture. Digging deep, we unearth some fruits too, berries of one sort or another, served on a slate. The second nose welcomes white smoke from burning paper, and a few fruit stones thrown in the flames (cherry, apricot). Mouth: it is berries central, even if they are not very ripe: strawberries, elderberries, cranberries, lingonberries, greengages, fruity and bitter. Chewing reveals a teak cabinet, or mahogany shelves, chocolate, likely filled with liqueur (is it Mon Chéri?), and axe handles polished and weathered by decades of use. It grows darker and chewier with time, and concentrates all the above into a dark paste that sticks to the teeth. The second sip presents glossy magazines, smoked maraschino cherries, and oily mahogany near the fireplace. There are hints of smoked mussels here and there, for the attentive taster to spot. Finish: well, it is certainly ripe, now, sweet and explosively fruity, if also strongly smoky. Chewy berry sweets (blackberry, blackcurrant), raisins, burnt wood and embers -- it heats up the sternum dramatically, in fact! Cigar smoke resumes its billowing, calming and comforting, and would make the absent-minded drinker miss the mossy vegetal peat or dirty vase water at the death. A recurring thread, is it not? It feels much darker, heavier, and smokier than the nose and the previous two drams were. The smoke is now that of burnt chocolate. The second gulp is woodier, with polished walnut shells, smoked Brazil nuts, and smoked maraschino cherries again. It then comes back to cigars and fortified wine (Sherry or Port). Pity this is only available by the dram at the distillery. 8/10
I am told that is all we have time for this year. Next stop: 2025!
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