Category Archives: Laphroaig

Exclusive Malts – Laphroaig – 1990 22yr (47.1%)

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Exclusive Malts Laphroaig 1990 22yrI have the same problem every Halloween. The day after, I have a million awesome costume ideas and then September-next-year rolls around, people start planning their parties, invitations go out and all those awesome ideas disappear. Every damn time. The ideas I’m left with always end up making me feel stupid.

Hi! What am I supposed to be? I dunno. Let’s see. Uh, I didn’t shave for a while, soooo… a lumberjack? No, I’m not wearing plaid. Ummmm, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Naw, too political. Ooo, Adam Levine! Yea, that’s clever, right? Gah, I’m too fat… um… Al Borland? Sigh.

I always keep a spare set of regular clothes in the car for when I’m done feeling like an asshole. That’s okay, though; there are better things to focus on here in New England as the weather changes.

Costume ideas for the bearded and lazy...

Halloween ideas for the bearded and lazy

Exclusive Malts found a stunning cask, here. It’s a fall dram for sure. The dried leaves, campfire smoke, warming finish that makes me crave pumpkin pie for some reason; it’s got Halloween written all over it. Even the way it dances across the palate changing mid-way like it just contemptuously ripped off a costume it didn’t like.

Nose: This is a spirit in flux. The first wave, a slight hit of the classic medicated iodine against a lightly fruity berry chapstick. Chemical and sweetness battle, like the first few fragrant steps you take into a hardware store or the inside of a plastic pumpkin full of flavored Tootsie Rolls. Fresh Autumn mud and boiled lime peel fight with hard boiled eggs and roasted fish. A salumi plate with pineapple and fried dough.

Palate: Fresh iodine deliver first, with a finish that takes the whisky in a completely different direction at the last second, bringing savory fennel and citrus stuffed olives. Mild mint treads throughout. Peat smoke expands in the finish with a little white pepper and a subtle (for Laphroaig) medicinal tang. I want this one to last forever… and the finish almost does.

Rating: Highly RecommendThis is everything I want in an October (including impetuous costume removal).

Thank you to Katia at Impex Beverages for the sample!

Single Cask Nation – Laphroaig – 6yr (57.8%)

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SCN LaphroaigAs previously discussed here, the Single Cask Nation is a member’s only club for buying single-cask whisky. Why pay to join a club just to buy whisky? It’s an honest question, but not hard to justify at all.

Aside from having access to the unique casks that clubs like these offer, casks chosen by folks who really dig awesome whisky, you get your money’s worth in liquor and merchandise almost immediately. There are other, well-known clubs that cost twice as much and only send you half as much whisky for joining, but the guys over here at the Jewish Whisky Company aren’t messing around.

Even better, now, unlike the first wave of founding members, you won’t have to wait an inordinate amount of time for your whisky to arrive. The earliest members waited for quite a while for the Jewish Whisky Company to iron out all the preliminary details. There was a bottling fiasco and a few, difficult economic decisions along the way. The bureaucracy around alcohol is grueling, and the logistics of shipping from overseas (and even within the country) demanding, but you won’t have to wait for that to sort itself out, now. There are six whiskies available that won’t make you want to stab your eyes out waiting for them.

But enough shilling for the Single Cask Nation. This Laphroaig, as Co-founder and President Joshua would say, is a stunner. It’s unusually clean for a Laphroaig. It’s 1 of only 269 bottles, and matured in a refill ex-Bourbon cask. It’s gentle and especially sweet for such a young malt. This would be a great gateway Laphroaig if it were available in larger numbers, but sucks to be you, it’s not. That’s just a part of the beautiful impermanence that is monocaskism.

Nose: Smoked corn chowder and wafts of fresh Autumn air. Bright and sweet like a floral latex glove or the waiting room at a dentist’s office. None of the classic Laphroaig paper mill but it still has a gentle iodine coupled with light caramel. Pecan wood chips, hints of nutmeg, and #2 graphite round out the nose.

Palate: Sweet sage-laced cigarettes. Candied tarragon and pineapple. It has a hot and sweet streak, then firm pecans with a nice, warming, vapor finish that sticks around. Clean peat and a tangy finish with echoes of Super Golden Crisp cereal.

Rating: RecommendedHow about a peat packed punch? Can’t get enough Super Golden Crisp. It’s got the crunch with punch.