It took us a few days to get rid of the hangover of the Spirit of Scotland, the Roman festival where we spent an whole tiring but unforgettable weekend; in the next few days we will start to taste some of the goodies we brought home, in the meantime we restart the engines with an official Laphroaig, 25 years old, bottled in 2013. Claudio Riva (mind and heart of I Love Laphroaig and Whiskyclub.it) proposed this malt during a preliminary tasting at the last Milano Whisky Festival; the color is golden.
N: this bottling is the result of the combination of “sherry casks” and “American oak”: the vinous component here seems to act by subtraction, leaving the distillate in the company of itself. What do we mean? The smokiness is certainly discrete, refined by time, but otherwise it shows a ‘younger’ profile, with malt in evidence and notes of fruit, almost candied (especially citrus, citron and lemon); the medicinal component (gauze) is definetely present. Then there is the more ‘usual’ area, with vanilla and licorice, icing sugar and marzipan. Maybe a tropical suggestion?
P: it is not very ‘island’, nor smoked; you can perceive a slight acrid peat, which turns ‘dirty’ a rather sweet and winey profile: creamy vanilla, tropical fruit perhaps, with peaches in syrup. I becomes drier, a palate without flames but very enjoyable.
F: medium long, still unbalanced towards sweetness, only with a little more smoke.
Not very intense to be honest, with a nose certainly more complex and stimulating than the averagely good palate. We are unconfident: due to our limited experience, Laphroaigs we like the most are the younger and unscrupulous ones… But we recognize we face a bottle that will give satisfaction to those who will open it, in any case. 87/100, in our scale.
Recommended soundtrack: Simply Red – Something got me started.
