Search Results: Laphroaig
Laphroaig’s latest annual edition, dubbed Càirdeas, is described by the distillery as bringing together “the best of much loved Càirdeas releases over recent years.” For 2023, the distillery went in two different directions: 3/4 of the whisky is matured in second-fill Madeira casks (which were the focus with the 2016 Cairdeas release), while 1/4 is…
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For 2022, Laphroaig’s special-edition Cairdeas release eschews fancy finishes and sticks with the tried and true. This release has been exclusively matured in ex-bourbon casks (from Maker’s Mark) and aged in Laphroaig’s Warehouse 1, a historic and iconic building that has stood on Laphroaig’s property for close to 200 years. And that’s the gist. This…
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The marriage of sherry and peat can prove to be a challenging equation to balance. Some distilleries manage to figure it out with elegance and style. Others have birthed mutations best forgotten, relegated to the island of misfit bottles. Thankfully this Laphroaig does not fall in the latter category, but sadly neither does it rise…
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The second release — or book, I guess — in Laphroaig’s collectable Ian Hunter Story series has arrived. Like the 2019 Book One, it’s a 30 year old whisky, though this one is completely aged in oloroso sherry casks instead of bourbon. Here’s the short of it: In over a decade of tasting at least…
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When a humble sample of a 16 year old Laphroaig bottled at cask strength appears at your door after 3 ice storms in 6 days, you know someone, somewhere is looking out for you. Time to thaw out and enjoy a treat! The nose of this indie bottling exhibits many of the characteristics expected from…
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Laphroaig’s special-edition Cairdeas releases often fall back on wine casks — its 2013 Port cask release remains one of my favorite Islay whiskies ever — so this 2020 offering offers some familiar elements. It’s a marriage of fully matured second-fill Ruby Port barriques and ex-bourbon barrels, which is then finished in red wine casks. As…
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In 2016 Laphroaig brought its 30 year old whisky to the U.S. for the first time. That expression is long since gone, but the Islay icon has recently brought a new 30 year old to our shores, part of a new collectible series that celebrates the founders and key characters of Laphroaig. This first release,…
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Islay’s Laphroaig continues to pump out the expressions, the latest of which is a 16 year old single malt, a spiritual successor to the delightful 15 year old it released in 2015. The whisky spends its entire aging time in ex-bourbon barrels, typical for most mainline Laphroaig releases. What a surprise then that this expression…
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Laphroaig fans are by now no stranger to its limited edition Cairdeas bottlings, which are released each year as part of Islay’s Fèis Ìle celebrations. This year’s limited release is a cask strength version of its popular Triple Wood release, a whisky which is first matured in ex-bourbon barrels, then moves to smaller quarter casks,…
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One of the icons of the whisky world, Islay’s Laphroaig 10 Years Old is a longstanding benchmark against which many other competing bottlings are compared. And yet the only coverage we have of this expression dates back to a brief look in 2008. When we recently got pitched by the brand, we figured we were…
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