Category Archives: Laphroaig

Single Cask Nation hits Los Angeles and one of its destinations: Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach, CA

 

Do you live in California and in or near the Los Angeles area?

Well, then you need to come out to Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach to see us!

Not Jewish?  Don’t worry — it’s all about the whisky.  Come ye Gentile, Come ye Jew, Come ye all lovers of great whisky!!

(See below for details on date, time, cost, how to get tickets, contact info, etc…)

Jason Johnstone-Yellin and I will be there pouring all six of the Single Cask Nation whiskies (see the image below).

SINGLE-CASK-NATION-DALMORE-LAPHROAIG-ARRAN-KILCHOMAN-GLEN-MORAY-BENRIACH

Whisky details:

  • Arran 12yo Pinot Noir Cask – 8yrs first fill bourbon, 4 years pinot noir, Single Cask, Cask Strength – Double Bronze medal winner (World of Whiskies tasting panel, International Whisky Competition)
  • BenRiach 17yo (peated) – 2nd fill bourbon barrel, Single Cask, Cask Strength – Gold medal winner (International Whisky Competition)
  • Dalmore 12yo – 12yrs refill hogshead, 10mos PX sherry hogshead, Single Cask, Cask Strength
  • Glen Moray 12yo – first fill bourbon barrel, Single Cask, Cask Strength
  • Kilchoman 4yo – first fill bourbon barrel, Single Cask, Cask Strength
  • Laphroaig 6yo – refill bourbon hogshead, Single Cask, Cask Strength

Details on the events (click the image to view/download a PDF of the event flyer):

Date: Sunday, June 30th
Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Address: 1101 Camino Real, Redondo Beach, CA
Modest cost for the event: $40
Contact for tickets: Lee Zaro or Aaron Krouse, whiskytribe@gmail.com 
What else comes with the tasting event other than fantastic Scotch whisky from Single Cask Nation: Hors d’oeuvres, fun, education, raffles for Single Cask Nation membership (and more).  Not party hats, sorry.

 

SCN_Whisky_Tasting

Special thanks to LZ and AK for setting up this great event and thanks, too, to Temple Menorah for having us!

It’s not everyday that I get a mention on Islay’s “The Ileach” newspaper…

 

Special thanks to my good friend Andy for pointing this one out to me and sending the pic (as blurry as it is)!

Oh, and in other news, Bruichladdich just sold to Remy Cointreau…

In case you missed my Islay Distillery/Rock Band comparison posts, here is a link to each one:

  1. Part one:Bruichladdich as The Sex Pistols
  2. Part two: Ardbeg as Slayer
  3. Part three: Caol Ila as The 80′s (They get their very own decade!)
  4. Part four:Bowmore as David Bowie
  5. Part five: Kilchoman as the Jackson Five (somewhat fitting, in retrospect, with them both bearing the number five).
  6. Part six: Bunnahabhain as R.E.M.
  7. Part seven: Lagavulin as Led Zeppelin
  8. Part eight: Laphroaig as Iggy Pop

Islay distilleries explained thru Rock and Roll comparisons – Part 8 – Laphroaig and my review of a Chieftain’s Single Cask of Laphroaig

Islay distilleries and their whiskies explained through Rock and Roll – Part VIII (of VIII)

This is the end, my only friend, the end.

Yes, you guessed it.  Eight active distilleries on Islay, eight Islay/Rock Band comparisons by yours truly.

G-d damn. I am sad to see this series end.  Such is life and all things must pass.

There were many Laphroaigs I could have chosen for this final Islay/Rock Band review and to be honest, I’ve got enough of the hooch in house for me to have chosen from. However, I’ve never had a single cask of Laphroaig from the Chieftain’s range so I figured I’d ask for a sample and if I were lucky to enough to get one then, cool, I’d review that.

Thanks to the good folks at Impex, they’ve got a new Chieftain’s 14yo single cask of Laphroaig and they were nice enough to pour me a few cl to review.  Special thanks to SF & EK from Impex for the sample!

Before I review this Laphroaig, let’s cover what’s been reviewed in this series to date:

  1. Part one:Bruichladdich as The Sex Pistols
  2. Part two: Ardbeg as Slayer
  3. Part three: Caol Ila as The 80′s (They get their very own decade!)
  4. Part four:Bowmore as David Bowie
  5. Part five: Kilchoman as the Jackson Five (somewhat fitting, in retrospect, with them both bearing the number five).
  6. Part six: Bunnahabhain as R.E.M.
  7. Part seven: Lagavulin as Led Zeppelin

Today we’re reviewing:

Chieftain’s Single Cask Laphroaig, cask #4127, bottled at 46% ABV$?? to be announced.

On the nose  Tell tale Laphroaig peat, somehow a bit less dirty but surely Laphroaig peat.

Scratch the surface and we find a good deal of unripened fruits (banana strings, hard peach, crab apple).

I also get the sense of an ashtray minus the butts but all of the ash.

All of this being said, though it might not sound it, it *is* a bit of a delicate nose.

I’d be scared to add water to this, there is very little alcohol punch.

On the mouth Very sooty and stingy-like along the sides of my tongue.

Salted rhubarb and on hot linoleum counter.

Not-so-sweet star fruit and on the 2nd sip, I discover this has a really nice mouth feel.

Out of the blue, a floral/lavender-like note makes itself known (coming back to the nose and I discover it there as well).

Salted still and drying toward the finish…

Finish Drying, a touch of citrus and decent length.

In sum Not a bad little cask of whisky!  Based on the light color at 14 years of age, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I found a nice evolution from nose to palate to finish.  It’s an easy going whisky for the peat heads among us.  Not very challenging but very pleasing.  I’d suggest this one right after a snow storm and right before you start shoveling your driveway (if’n that applies to you). ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Laphroaig – The Band!

Comparing Laphroaig to a band was perhaps the toughest one of them all, hence my saving them for the last.  (Sorry grandpa, I know you always said to do the hard stuff first and save the easy stuff for last.  Note to self: I should have listened to you.)

So many bands came to mind.  I think of the dirty, gritty, filthy and delicious peat and I instantly think of The Melvins.  But, most people don’t know The Melvins.

However, there’s more to Laphroaig than just peat.  Their 30yo expression, a manly yet feminine and elegantly heavy dram makes me think of Into Another.  Like The Melvins, chances are, you’ve not heard of their awesomeness.

In the end, I have to admit, Laphroaig is a powerhouse whisky.  So, I’ve decided that you are Iggy Pop.  And, not just any Iggy Pop but Iggy from his 1973 “Raw Power” Record.  And not just any song on “Raw Power” but actually, Laphroaig, you are Iggy Pop’s “Search and Destroy”.  But not just any version of “Search and Destroy.”

With the often salty/briny character, you are “Search and Destroy” as heard/seen on the “Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” during the gun fight seen.:

So, congrats Laphroaig – you are RAW POWER.  You are Iggy Pop.  Thanks for playing!

Two Laphroaigs, both independently bottled. One from Royal Mile Whiskies the other from Signatory.

This is going to be a sort of cut-to-the-chase review.

More whisky, less preamble.

I’ve got a trip to Scotland to in a few days, lots to review and little time for posting more than notes.

So, two Laphroaigs, both independently bottled. One bottled by Royal Mile Whiskies, one by Signatory.  A death match to the finish (pun intended).

Laphroaig RMW 10yo 56.8% (this bottle is no longer available)

On the nose Smoky and abrasive yet fruity… sort of like a fruit orchard on fire.

Lemon custard pie with a side of honeycomb cereal.

Very aggressive nose – at 56.8% I’d expect so but… it seems somehow moreish in the hot-alcohol-on-the-nose department.

Pears, cinnamon and pepper; in that order.

Lastly, some notes of tinned pineapple… Tin and all.

On the mouth– 

Not as smoky as the nose lead on.

Fresh oats and other cereals. Very malty.

Creamy attack loaded with lemons and salted, honey and butter slathered toast.

Finish nice even, drying finish. Like licking a dry Popsicle stick or tongue depressors.

In Sum A nice well balanced Laphroaig. Well chosen you choosers of cask! I could easily pour this on a warm summer night or a cold winter day. Sounds odd but very doable!  Actually, I’d love to taste this as beer before it becomes spirit.  I imagine it’s delicious.

Laphroaig 8yo Signatory 46% $53

On the nose very similar, if you ask me, to the RMW version except softer (a result of the lower ABV?).

Here’s an unusual one: blueberry bramble.

Rubber gloves and other things that start with the prefix “Poly”.

On the mouth A watered down version of the first Laphroaig.

Much sweeter, however, and less malty than the first one.

Finish Not a dry as the previous Laphroaig and that’s too bad.

In Sum Something tells me that this would be really nice as a cask strength Whisky.  I might have enjoyed it more if I went for this before the RMW Laphroaig. Note to self, when reviewing two whiskies side by side and one of them is cask strength and the other not… Start with the lower octane one…  That is all.

Special thanks goes out to David H for the samples!