Laphroaig 30 Year Old

In case you haven’t guessed, I’m Jewish. I am a kosher keeping (mostly “kosher by nature” seeing as I’m a vegetarian), whisky drinking, rock-n-roll playing, cigar smoking Jew. A proud one at that. Additionally, I keep Kosher for Passover which means I do not eat leavened bread during this eight day holiday. Nor do I drink beer, eat waffles, pancakes or, drink whisk(e)y.

As much as I’ll miss whisk(e)y (starting on Monday and ending the day before WhiskyLive in NYC), it makes me feel quite good to not drink the stuff and it gives me that chance to experience more Wines, Tequilas and maybe Mead (if I can find a “K” for “P” Mead).

This being said, over the next few days, until Passover, I will be reviewing some of the more top-shelf drams I have (or have samples of). During Passover (or Pesach, using the Hebrew word for the holiday), I will be tasting & reviewing some of the aforementioned non-whisk(e)y adult beverages.

So, here’s the the first in 3 top shelf whisky reviews. The Laphroaig 30yr.

On the nose – Meaty & musty though quite fruity, Necco wafers, chalky & waxy, nutmeg, mustard seeds, sea salt, I am smelling antiquity and not sure I am mature enough for this stuff – I sort of feel like a 5th grader that has a crush on his English teacher (I had a big crush on my 5th grade English teacher. We called her Mrs. Huge Tits because it rhymed with her real last name and she was well endowed toward her upper chest area… if you catch my drift), dried spices and bay leaf – there’s a ton here! Wow, the bay leaf is quite prominent after the 3rd whiff

Palate – Chocolatey and a good amount of pepper – very spicy (not black pepper spicy, more like hot pepper spice), soup, stewy and salty, slight smoldering, clementines, extremely mature and delicate peat, pungent, soy sauce & veggie dumplings – I am most happy right now. This is my kind of peat!! Mature & sexy.

Finish – Medium long, salty and a bit spicy (think soy sauce and ginger on a nice sushi roll).

In sum – I can see why this is a coveted dram. The balance & profile is near perfect. This is oh, so special. I am no expert. I’m only 3 years into this whisky tasting business and even I can see that there is something quite amazing here. If I had a full bottle of this stuff and my house were burning down, I’d run back in to save my wife & kids, grab my cats and this bottle. This is a desert island dram and I am very happy to be tasting this on a special night such as this — Shabbat!

This is my first review and it is written pretty late after I got home from the pub. I haven't tasted that many different whiskies but I must write down some notes to try to share this fantastic experience. Test this whisky if you get the opportunity, it is well worth the money!

It is very oily almost creamlike and the color is dark gold. It looks very sofisticated and luxurious.

Nose: The typical Laphroaig peatiness is very obvious but I also found tones of leather and some very slight iodine. It also have some sweetness to it that is more protruding than in the younger Laphroaigs.

Taste: Peat and sweetness, The oak from the long maturation is of course the main event alongside the unsurprising peat. The iodine is more obvious on the palate than on the nose but it still takes a backseat. I have a hard time recognizing the tastes, it isn't really like leather as in the Ardbeg Uigedal but still a round and "heavy" taste. The leather on the nose isn't really coming back among the tastes. I found no seaweed that are so obvious in the 10 and 15 year olds.

Aftertaste: It just goes on and on without end. It develops from peaty smoke to sweet oak and ends in surprising licorice. The tastes are very round and nothing sticks out.

The balance is perfect and everything from the nose to the aftertaste holds together very nicely. This must be one of the truly great ones!