14/04/2023 Laphroaig

Laphroaig 28yo b.2018 (44.4%, OB Limited Edition, Quarter Casks + Bourbon Barrels + Sherry Butts): nose: to quote Psycho: "This is something that would make me fall in love with Laphroaig again!" It is all hot sands, wet with the lapping, and tarry ropes, yet it is inexplicably elegant, as only a long-aged whisky can be. We have iodine, TCP, then -- wham! Juicy dark cherries and very-ripe strawberries. Come to think of it, it offers a mix of seafood and berries, though it is closer to smoked mussels with squashed, barbecued cherries than strawberry cod (the Gaston Lagaffe readers will know). Behind all that is a gently-insistent smoke -- diesel smoke, alongside timid peat smoke. Catching up with that is menthol, or mentholated cigarettes, interwoven with those ripe berries, still. Phwoar. The second nose has plump dark grapes, soil sticking to vine roots, and blueberries in a wicker basket full of root vegetables (beets, Arran Blue potatoes, purple carrots). The initial maritime profile has totally morphed. Only drying fishing nets are left, sprayed with wood lacquer. Much later on, smoked-strawberry bubble gum rocks up, and it has a mentholated kick to boot. There are also liquorice-root shavings. Mouth: rustic elegance made whisky. Char-grilled cherries, barbecued strawberries, grilled seashells, and a drop of kerosene in a private-jet spirit. The balance is staggering, neither bold, nor soft -- just right. A faint bitterness appears, after it has been sitting on the tongue for a minute: bicycle inner tubes, splashed with TCP or tincture of iodine. Nevertheless, it never goes overboard one way or the other, no -- it is a masterclass in control. The second sip brings a little more spice, with asafoetida, mace, stem ginger... Yes! it does become sweeter too. Char-grilled berries again, somehow also caramelised. Finish the smoke is well present, of course, yet it is, again, perfectly balanced by juicy dark cherries and ripe strawberries, now joined by smoked blueberries and a few blackberries for good measure. There is an earthy side to this never-ending finish, with elderberry-stained scorched earth. Repeated sipping increases the smoke, and sees the return of the tincture of iodine (or is it Iso Betadine?), yet the berries ensure it never becomes overtly medicinal or maritime. Instead, we are closer to fruit-tree embers and ashes. Having said that, burnt gauze does pop up, at some point. This is a masterpiece. 9/10