Laphroig
 

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Laphroig. The mad red headed member of the Scotch whisky family, even amongst the the Islay clan.

Ive been a consumer over many decades, and my tastes tend almost exclusively to Islay. Lagavulin, Arbeg and Laphroig in that order. So, its the season after all, i was given a bottle of Laphroig 10yo, and it might two years since my last one.

I think its been changed. It is just not the smack in the face with a wet North Sea mackeral that it used to be.

Its like they've made it - nicer, more accessible. I might ofcourse be imaging things. Any thoughts amongst the cognoscenti?

Every batch is a bit different. Even distilleries change what their 10yr single malt consists of, the casks they use make a big difference too and of course aren’t always the same.

Me? I really am not a fan or consumer of Islay beverages.

But my BIL? He is. He was in med school in Manhattan when he met the marketing director of Laphroig. Marketing guy says "if you are ever in Scotland, look me up." They promptly forgot and some years passed. Until one day, they were in Scotland and were scheduled to go to Laphroig the very next day. They text the Marketing guy. He says, I am in California. Sorry. But then a late text comes through. He has set up a private tour for my BIL and SIL! The tour is great but the final bit is even better. They are brought to a small cask and the (whatever the person working in a distillery is called) pulls a small bit of whiskey from the cask. He says "this is Prince Charles' personal cask." He is coming next week to pick this up. We need to test it first. Do you want some?

So now my BIL is an exclusive consumer of Laphroig. Thanks to a world class tour and experience at the distillery.

That is a fantastic story.

Whiskey distilling and handling is a very organic process. The quality of the barley malted, sugar content, atmospheric pressure and what barrels it is stored in are all factors. I used to appreciate the Islay malts, but tend to go for the Speyside, more subtle varieties, Glen Grant and Glen Rothes in particular. If you ever get the chance, try Klinish. It is made in a small town called Brora, about an hour north of Inverness. If I recall correctly, it spends 8 years in bourbon casks and 4 years in sherry and is slightly higher in alcohol content but it is SO smooth.

I went to a distillery in Mabou, NS six years back. Glenora, near St John's. They say they have the oldest single malt whiskey in North America. Glen Breton Rare.

The first pic is from the internet. They had very large vats in a separate area behind me when taking a pic of the distillation equipment. Production was shut down when I went in Sept of 2019.

The rack of whiskeys are pulled from stages in the distilling process with the far end being the tastiest. The first was pretty harsh.

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That's my order as well (Lagavulin, Arbeg and Laphroig); love that smokey scotch flavor, and so do my kids! Guess it's time to buy a bottle of Laphroig and see where it's been the last few years. A few years back I was in Scotland, but to my big regret, didn't have enough time for an excursion to Islay...but, it still is on a future itinerary!

I go for the ardbeg when I can. We were shopping in a duty free country and no ardbeg but they had a bunch of laphroig… gee that 10 year is too expensive… got a bottle of ‘select’ for $18 and… we struggle to detect any laphroig in it. It was bad. Turns out it’s some kind of duty free special. Recently we tasted some laphroig 10 at a friends house and… same deal. The bright brine/iodine/medicine flavor is gone or very reduced. Glad I didn’t lay down those big bucks because it didn’t taste like laphroig. We still have an old bottle of laphroig 10 and it still tastes right (err, wrong.)

Is a huge shame what’s happened to whiskey prices.

Scotch.

I went to a "KEEP WALKING" campaign event where we sipped a lot of scotch. hosted by JW.

I honestly didnt understand it at all. too peaty for me, is the best way to describe it..and of all the ones I tasted, I clearly like the BLACK best.

I do however love the Wet Mackerel taste parallel. great colorful description.

Bob, the nearest city would be Sydney Nova Scotia. St. John's is across the water in Newfoundland. Glen Breton has come a long way. I tried some in 2007 and the best I could say was it seemed to be very high quality paint thinner. Aging makes a huge difference. ;)

Not all scotch is peaty. I don’t care for many of the peaty ones either.

You guys need to try Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 year… incredible and I was put into this in Aberdeen on a night out with a bunch of hardcore whisky enthusiasts.

LaphroAig….it’s written on the bottle.

Paddy Irish whiskey is a smoother, better beverage imho.

Agree!

I was thinking it was in Newfoundland on the last leg of our trip to St John's for the annual car race up there. Typing NS vs Newfoundland was my second mental error even though the province was accidentally correct. Thanks for the correction.

22 days in a truck and trailer (from Ohio for me) and sleeping in a hotel room with a dude was a long trip. He had the time off and I was retired so we took our time.

Outstanding description.

This guy refers to it as challenging.

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