As you may know, we are not big fans of the 10 year old Laphroaig, which always seems to us a kitten in a cage and not the fearless lion it should (it could) be. Quite the opposite relationship we have with the 10 year old Cask Strength, of which we have tasted several expressions in the past, and which is by far our favorite bottle among the official releases of the distillery. The last batch was released in February 2020, and we managed to get our hands on a bottle directly at the distillery in February, thanks to the spirit of sacrifice of Davide and Corrado: we finally drink it.

N: intense and explosive, as usual: here we start from a peat, a bit acrid and smoky and definitely with an evident “burnt” feeling. The medicinal share grows with time, with notes of gauze, of betadine; after a while, a balsamic and mentholated hint comes out, which reminds us of one of those cough syrups… Fruit, with notes of lime and green apple; Davide suggests “a note of ti punch”, and we appreciate it. Fruit crumble, a bit burnt; perhaps strawberry jam, also burnt?

P: damn, this one’s really powerful. Going in order, we find hazelnuts, lots of dark chocolate; roasted hazelnuts too. The burnt part is devastating here too, with burnt wood, a sense of burning bonfire (ok, we never tasted it on the palate, but we understood each other, right?). A mojito flambé: a bit of lime and mint, everything completely covered with smoke.

F: ashes, ashes and ashes, with very, very acrid peat..

Good, very good; powerful, very powerful, so powerful that perhaps we would not drink whole cups of it. Maybe the only ‘flaw’ in a profile we always like, anyway. The kitten here comes back as a lion, even if it’s a kind of baroque lion: 86/100.

Recommended soundtrack: Verdena – Non prendere l’acme, Eugenio.