NEW - Laphroaig 16

Why would that be a ploy?

@MadSingleMalt - Would producing a unique one-off batch using below par casks not come under the banner of a ploy? As in to shift the duffers?

It very well might be a moot point anyway as doing a bit more digging suggests it's all first-fill ex-bourbon. Yum!

I’d gladly take a chance if it were available to me. Laphroaig at 48%, aged 16 Years, all first fill ex-bourbon? Yes please.

@RianC are you really concerned about getting a bad bottle from Laphroaig? I consider that risk to be low. I consider Laphroaig to be the most consistent distillery for high quality, worldwide. For me the only other distillery in Laphroaig's league for consistency of quality is Amrut.

@RianC thanks for the news! I wouldn’t call it a ploy to shift the less than stellar casks. Rather, I think that is the point of:

• Laphroaig Select
• Laphroaig Tripel Wood
• Laphroaig An Cuan
• Laphroaig PX Cask Triple Matured

Those are all expression (in my opinion) that are trying to mask the basic flavor profile of the standard bourbon matured Laphroaig spirit.

A 16yo Laphroaig that is exclusively ex-bourbon cask matured? That is risky. I think that is the point. They want to see what the response is to this release.

They already did this with the 15yo released for the 200th anniversary. While many people welcomed the return . . . most people who never tried the old 15yo were less than impressed with how delicate and boring the 15yo at 43% was. If you happen to go to the distillery you can still buy the 15yo as a regular expression. They label it Cairdeas, but it isn’t the same as the once a year Cairdeas we all know and love. When I visited the distillery last year I tasted the 15yo at 43% . . . and totally passed. No regrets. The word from the staff was that it wasn't well received. I think that is the reason it never got a wider release.

Here is a picture with the 15yo Cairdeas in the background. The 1999 cask sample in the foreground was good . . . but not great.

I would say that this 16yo is an attempt to split the difference between the 18yo at 43% and old 15yo at 43%.

My guess is that it will be far better than the 15yo (I was never a fan of the old one) but not as good as the 18yo (of which I am a big fan).

Personally, I am excited to see this 16yo at 48%. I get that Laphroaig simply didn’t have the stock to keep up with the old 18yo. It happened to many distilleries (in the US and Scotland). I am just glad to see a new age statement from Laphroaig instead of another NAS random cask matured release. Well done Laphroaig. Now, if only it was at cask strength!

@Victor - Well I've gone all in and bought this and the 10 CS so i'm hoping that reputation is deserved. No reviews out there have convinced me to try any NAS stuff or finished bottlings - like those @Nock alludes to.

I've only had the 10 (@40%) and the QC with the latter being my favourite, if a bit over oaked. I like the 10 but it's its presentation that puts me off when there is so much else on offer . . .

@RianC so you just bought a bottle?? I am jealous! And the Laphroaig 10yo CS? I am guessing batch 011?

I am a HUGE fan of the 10yo CS. I have every batch so far (including the old Red Stripe) and not a one is bad (my least favorite was 005 while my favorite is 004). My guess is that 011 will be a beast compared with the 16yo. But I would guess both to be very good purchases.

Please do post notes for the 16yo when you get around to cracking it. My guess is that you will get a refined gentle velvet peat, smoked pineapple, sea salt, and maybe a light touch of iodine. Maybe some tobacco or oak? Probably vanilla . . . I am excited for you! I certainly hope I am able to get my hands on a bottle.

@RianC I’m a big fan of the Triple Wood, and I’m not a big fan of sherry-finished peated whisky as a general rule. The combination just works in TW for me. I know a lot of people poo-pooed the expression because Serge wasn’t crazy about it, rating it a 86/100 and stating that “Quarter Cask is better.” Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but I tend to base mine on personal experience rather than on the tastes of an old Frenchman I’ve never met.

@Nock - Yes the 16 and 10 CS batch 11. It may surprise you to find that the 10 CS is rarely seen in the UK outside of the distillery so I'm very happy to grab one of those. No way I'd pay the secondary price (upwards of £200) for one though!

If the 16 is anything like you describe I'll be more than happy. And I'll certainly post my notes on here, all being well!

@OdysseusUnbound - But but but Serge is like the Clapton of whisky reviewers . . . God! I'd be happy to try the TW, PX and have often looked at Lore but the mixed reviews (and the price) have always made me hang back.

@RianC

Lore is very good from my experience

@OdysseusUnbound 59 is not that old

@Nozinan I’m still 39, so like, 59 is sooo old, dude.

@RianC FWIW, I rated TW a 93/100 here. connosr.com/laphroaig-triple-wood-whisky-r…

I know I’m no Serge, but it’s a different perspective.

@OdysseusUnbound, 59 years of age is the time in life when you get to have four hundred plus bottles in your arsenal.......and the Secretary of War doesn’t criticize the nearly two hundred open bottles in your cabinet or the two hundred plus bottles in the bunker. Membership has its privileges......

.....doesn’t it?!.....

@paddockjudge

It helps to have a very patient wife

And to be the best dad and husband.

@Nozinan, you definitely have all of that going for you.

@Nozinan @paddockjudge Looks like I have work to do. I’m a passable to average dad and a mediocre husband, at best.

@OdysseusUnbound, unless you “up” your game, you may be limited to a ceiling of 250 to 300 bottles at age 59.

@paddockjudge Idk man, my wife already thinks I “have more than enough” and I’m only at about 60-65 bottles. I’m not sure I can quintuple that in 20 years....but I do like a challenge.

@paddockjudge by the time I'm your age I hope my collection will be trending down in size. I hope never to get to the level you describe.

I do hope, though that I will be able to measure up to your level of fatherhood and spousal quality.

@paddockjudge so how many sample bottles in this mythical 59 year old's stash?

I always struggle to properly account for those when people ask how many open bottles I have. Mainly because I just don't have one or two sizes in my stash. I have: 375mL, 250mL, 200mL, 125mL, 100mL, 60mL 50mL, 40mL, 30mL and 15mL. Apparently, I like to decant my whisky into oblivion. Just counting those sizes I have about 250 sample bottles of various sizes.

@Nozinan do you honestly think your hoard will ever truly trend downward? I am highly skeptical. It sounds like a fantasy. Just live in the moment and pass on a fantastic bunker to ungrateful children and in-laws. That's my plan. Sure they will probably mix Brora with coke and pour out Ardbeg because it "tastes like liking grandma's couch" (true tasting notes from my brother-in-law). But isn't that what family is all about?

@OdysseusUnbound the key (I find) is to keep my unopened bottles in unmarked boxes out of sight. I really don't think the wife knows how many bottles reside in the bunker. She is fine with the 45-70 open bottles I have in my study. Occasionally she comes in and asks, "Isn't this a new bottle? Did you just buy it?" And I'll say quite truthfully, "No dear, I bought that bottle a while ago. I just opened last week."

And let me rant/defend Serge for just a second. I have been reading that guy since before he changed to the "new" site (so before 2003). I have bought several pricy bottles (to me) based on his ratings only to be very disappointed. Clearly he and I have very different tastes. BUT in that time and with those experiences I have learned to read-him-between-the-lines so to speak. And that has been invaluable. He has a style profile this is very clearly defined. In no way is he financially tied to the industry, nor does he make money from his site. I don't think you will find a more honest or calibrated taster. Are his scores objective? In NO WAY. He hates whiskies I love; and I loves whiskies he hates. You just have to understand him. And I will take one guy's opinion (which I can read through) over the masses on reddit or whiskybase any day.

@Nock Didn't Diageo hire Serge to help with the re-launch of Brora or Port Ellen? Either way, I get what you're saying, and despite all the criticism Jim Murray gets, I find myself agreeing with his assessments more often than not (probably about 70% of the time). Now my scores are not necessarily as generous as his, and it isn't always a perfect fit, but I know if Jim Murray and Josh from The Whiskey Jug both review a whisky positively, there's a darned good chance I'll like it. And I agree that sites like whisky-reddit can be ridiculous at times. There are some reddit reviewers who take themselves way too seriously and who never score anything above an 82/100 unless it's a crazy unicorn bottle, in which case it gets an 85/100. My problem (and it is uniquely my problem) with Serge is that 80% to 85% of what he reviews is either completely unfindable or unaffordable for me. You know what I mean by "unfindable": Highland Park 28 year old, distilled in 1974, bottled for an independent retailer named Gunnar, whose shop is located beside the pickled herring booth on a pier in Copenhagen and is only open the fourth Wednesday of each month

@OdysseusUnbound I would disagree with you from my perspective. Over 90% of what Serge reviews is unobtainable AND unaffordable for me.

@Nock, having just made a purchase today, I fear you are correct, but I really feel I have consolidated my position far too much and need to start drinking down the collection over the next few years.

I suspect the price will be in line with the lagavulin 16. I also don't think it is available at the LCBO. I'd be willing to give it a try. I've yet to find a laphroaig that I didn't enjoy

@Nozinan In the philosophy of language, or can include both options, so “unobtainable” doesn’t preclude “unaffordable” from also being true. And your “over 90%” figure is probably closer to the mark.

@PeterG7 - It's RRP in the UK is £89, currently, so almost double that of Laga 16. Still, given today's market I'd say that isn't too offensive.

Out of interest - can you guys in N America not get bottles shipped from the UK/Amazon?

@RianC Unfortunately, it is against the law to ship alcohol into Canada. Lag 16 is 134$ Canadian. So, I was using that as the bench mark price for the laphroaig 16.

@Nock , my confidential source has indicated that minis are not included in his bottle count; however, there are 200+ minis and samples, the majority being 60ml specimens.....and Nock, you can count on me to continue enjoying many, many whiskies that you just can't get into...steady as she goes.

@OdysseusUnbound @Nozinan I agree that most of what Serge reviews is unobtainable AND unaffordable for me too. But due to the sheer volume of what he reviews, inevitably he has reviewed much of what I can afford - and often multiple times over a number of years (which is most helpful). I don't base my buys solely on his reviews but they do help form part of the jigsaw.

@Hewie - ' and often multiple times over a number of years (which is most helpful) '

Totally agree. Ralfy does the same thing sometimes and I find it a really interesting insight into the bottlings over time, and also the reviewer's changing tastes and palate.