Laphroaig Quarter Cask

Nose: You first notice the peat-imparted leather, which manages to be deliciously inviting combined with a well-rounded sweetness (and NaCl/I2): like wakame salad, complete with sesame seeds. Further probing can bring overripe orange, turning to orange/vanilla creamsicle. Tasted from an alternate vantage...: the leather is more like toasted walnuts and their skins, and these find themselves in the salty graham crust of a Key lime pie-- with the Key lime elements of sweetness, vanilla/coconut smoothness, and a little prodding sharpness of the rind. Just before the sip, some toffee-enhanced rubber can arrive.

Palate: A lime entrance brings big viscous flavors: potpourri with bitter walnut skins, turning to smoky cedar with sweet cream, to vanilla with lime and peppery cloves, finally to liquorice with rubber and charcoal. Rich, with a good balance of sweetness and saltiness throughout.

Finish: The leather with sweet wakame returns, but the leather feels more like a cigar in the throat. In the mouth, it becomes a lingering sweet/salty/industrial sensation comprised of overtoasted walnuts with lime rind.

I expected something harsher-- saltier and more medicinal-- but was delighted at the balance of fruit/cream sweetness ("Key lime pie") and palatably tamed peat. I applaud the combination of balance and complexity, and I look forward to keeping this around especially for winter evenings. Of the other peated scotches I've reviewed so far, this compares best with the Ardbeg Alligator. But the Laphroaig has key-lime character rather than orange; it is less salty and slightly sweeter; and it is less bitter but with a bit more "diesel".

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