Laphroaig Lore

In September 2017 I set foot on Islay for the very first time. What a great trip indeed. We visited – obviously – all distilleries (even Ardnahoe, which is still being built), including Laphroaig. We had a very fun tour and at the end were given a couple of samples. One of those was this Laphroaig Lore, bottled at 48%. According to our tour guide, even casks from 1993 were used in the mix (although most were much younger).

The nose is sweet on apples, pears and pineapple wrapped in a smoky jacket, while the peat actually plays second fiddle. Having said that, make no mistake, this is Laffie with tar and ship’s rope on the nose.

It is oily, but also a bit moldy on the palate. The fruit is limited to apples and a hint of oranges, while the smoke increased significantly. A bit spicy from cloves and curry, woodsmoke and ashes. But it is quite flat… for a Laffie.

The finish is medium long, fairly sweet, but no longer fruity. Strange as it may seem, this reminds me of peaty sugar water.

Nice Laffie, but fairly straightforward. Not a lot of depth, making this NAS-release almost but not quite disappointing.

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