Tag Archives: Peat

Laphroaig 30yr – a goddess of a dram!

Islay region – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $220-750 (holy spread!!) and up | £350 | €459

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.  A special thank you goes out to the Scotch Hobbyist again for the sample trade!

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!

Highland Park 8 year old MacPhail’s Collection

Islands – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $35 | £23 | €26

So, I’ll be quite honest when I say the only reason I purchased this is because it said “Highland Park” and it was a $35 dollar bottle.  You may have seen in a previous post that the best dram for me in 2009 was the Highland Park 18yr.  I am a devotee of Highland Park and, for me, everytime I have a sip of their nectar I have a Shehecheyanu moment.  Highland Park whiskies are that special for me.

On top of that, John Hansell of Malt Advocate gave this particular expression a nice little review.  I’ll pay $35 for an 83pt whisky (especially if it’s Highland Park)!! You can check out John Hansell’s review here.

Without any further ado, here are my notes on this fine little dram:

Initial Whiff Very delicate and quite briny, almost like a slightly intense Scapa 16yr (that review to follow in the coming weeks), oaky, hint of fried pineapple, honeycomb breakfast cereal (does that exist outside of the US??)

Palate Increasingly fruity, tropical, syrupy mouth feel (can this really only be a $35 bottle??), ever slight earthiness (can’t place it, but the feel the flavor gives me is that of things growing in the springtime – it must be the youthfulness of the spirit), sweet onion, this is a punchy little dram.

FinishMedium length, just as biting as you’d expect from 43% (though I would have loved to have tried this at 46%), after a minute or two I notice a stronger smokiness in my mouth I did not detect earlier.

In sum This is not a very “Highland Park” Highland Park.  It’s quite different from the 12yr, 15yr or 18yr.  And while it’s not the most spectacular dram I’ve ever had, I can see myself reaching for this in an instant.   This is a really nice every day dram though, no doubt about it.  Quite well done and oh so worth the price spent (if not more – though don’t tell the kind folks at MacPhail’s, it’ll be our secret.  Just you and me. Ssshhhhh!!)

Continuation of the “In sum” portion of this post — So, I pored myself a nice healthy portion (my guess is about 6.5cl) and I tend to only use the first 2cl of a dram for review.  I’m about 4cl in and, wow, just a really nice dram.  A nice little cracker and so very perfect for the springtime or a cooler summer day.  I’ll take this in place of a cold beer any day – extremely refreshing!  Heck, I’d take this over water (this is the “Water of Life” after all, right??)

Connemara Cask Strength Peated Irish Whiskey

Ireland – 58.5%ABV – 750ml bottle – $54 and up | £42 | €47

What an interesting whiskey this is!  Many of you who know me or a regulars of this blog know or can see that I, for the most part, stick to Scottish single malt whiskies and will, on occasion, dabble in the American whiskies.  I tend to steer clear of Irish whiskies.  Not because I do not like them or have a prejudice toward the Irish, I plum just don’t know much about Irish whiskies or what to expect from them.  I aim to change this and I’ve got to say Connemara is helping me!

When I think of Irish whiskey, like many Americans, I just think of Jameson (the standard entry level stuff) right away.  Dr. Whisky, by the way, actually has a nice post on Jameson which can be found here.  It’s nice enough but nothing to cry home about and certainly not an every day dram (at least not for me).

So after reading a few reviews of the Connemara, realizing that it was St. Patty’s day and hearing some nice stuff about it from my friends Gal & Kfir over at Whisky Israel, I decided to pick some up.

A peated Irish whiskey [you say]??  Yes, a peated Irish whiskey indeed.  This, unlike most Irish whiskies is distilled only twice (as with most Scottish whiskies); the vast majority of Irish whiskies are distilled three times. Connemara whiskey is matured in ex-bourbon casks (not sure if they are first fill, 2nd fill, etc…) which also adds in the overall flavor.

So, here’s how it all went down:

Initial whiff Huh… Chinese food, Lo Mien perhaps?  Very floral (salted celery?) but quite sooty.  The peat is so strange here, not smokey at all.  Like soot on a steel pipe from a barrel stove (I used to have a barrel stove in a wood fort my old buddy Jason and I stole.  I tell you the story some time.  Funny stuff.  Ah, the things 13yr olds do…), honey and very grassy.  Strange though, I can’t shake the Chinese food…

On the mouth Even at almost 60%ABV, it’s not that hot (though I’ve got a fairly high threshold).  What a mix of flavors!  Again, the peat is not a really smokey peat, more vegetal really.  With some water, this stuff is quite creamy, not sweet however.  Its all about various types of root veggies with chocolate, unsweetened mind you.

Finish Long, sooty again and some honey comes back.  Not sure how old this stuff is but I am not getting a ton of oak.  Peppery and maybe a little white chocolate.

In sumYou know, after a few minutes, there’s an after taste that’s a bit odd.  Not bad but not super pleasant either.  I guess the best remedy for that is to drink more!  Actually, I did, the very next day and started off with water.  In so doing, I did not get that after taste — could have been something I ate the day before…  This is a good one.  It’s a contemplative dram, lots to discover here, though, maybe I’m digging to deep…

Check out what others are saying about it:

Dr. Whisky

For Peat’s Sake

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

Islay region – 48%ABV – 750ml bottle – $39 and up | £27 | €32

So, there is a very interesting story to the Laphroaig Quarter Cask.  Apparently, years ago, before you and I were born (well, maybe not you, or you, or her, but he and me), the good folks at Laphroaig (and perhaps other distilleries) used to use smaller casks for transporting whisky as it was easier to do so by way of the ‘pony express’.

Well, enter the modern world where everything is about how you can ‘save a buck’, and these distilleries chose to use larger casks for transporting via rail & road.

In doing so, what was lost, however, was a quicker maturation process (due to greater contact with the wood, up to 30%) and an added oakiness the extra wood contact imparted.

Laphroaig revived quarter casking for this expression and I have to say I’m quite thankful they did.  In comparison to the Laphroaig 10yr, this Quarter Cask expression has a softer mouth feel and more of a sweetness which both offsets and compliments the amount of peat in this baby.  As a bonus, it’s bottled at 48%!!

Not only is this expression (in my eyes) superior in almost every way to their standard 10yr, it’s only about $7-10 more over the 10yr — a real bargain if you ask me!

Here we go!

Initial whiffs Smoke, like a furnace blast, rather sweet, orange blossoms and extinguished soy candles, pine, oak, herbal/flowery tea (chamomile perhaps?), rotten bananas – I can almost taste the fruit flies 😉

Palate Smokey & quite leathery, chewy but smooth in texture & medicinal/herbal, loads of oak (the quarter sized casks have a huge influence here), much better than their standard 10yr expression – the balance is great!

Finish Long, smoky, drying finish, tons of oak here!  Quite satisfying.

In sumWith all of the medicinal & herbal notes in this baby, she’ll nurse you back to health!  This is like Scottish chicken soup.  Quite warming, even after first sip.  If you’re not a peat head, this is not one for you, this is a peaty one and I think you’d have a tough time getting past the initial smoke blast this one gives you.  If you are a peat head — welcome to heaven!

Side note (or would it be a footer way down here….hmmmm) The fact that they have a titanium white cork cap kills me.  You’d think, with all of the peat in this one, that the cap would be charred & melted or something.

Lagavulin 1991/2007 Distiller’s Edition

Islay region – 43%ABV – 750ml bottle – $80 | £49 | €63 (the US price shown is for the 1991/2007, the UK/EU prices are for the 1993/2009 edition as I could not find the 1991/2007 edition pricing for them)

As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve got some work ahead of me.  I just received 4 new samples to review and all of them are titans in their own right.  This, The Lagavulin Distillers Edition 1991/2007, 2009 George T Stagg Bourbon (at over 70% ABV!!), Port Askaig 17yr & the Laphroaig 30yr – talk about a line up!

I decided to start with the Lagavulin Distillers Edition for no reason other than the fact that it was a cold rainy evening and I needed to get warm.  I needed comfort and, if you know the Lagavulin, the peat in their whiskies really helps to get you to that warm, safe place in your mind whether it’s memories of a family campout back in the 70’s, the birth of your first child or the first time you listened to John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” — Lagavulin takes you there.  It’s that great.

Here is what the standard bottle looks like (1993/2009 edition shown):

and here’s a picture of the sample I worked from (a nice & healthy amount as you can see):

So, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?  Yes.  Yes, we shall:

Initial whiffs Very “Lagavulin”, almost more Lagavuliny than the standard 16yr (if that makes sense – if ‘Maximum Strength Tylenol’ is like regular tylenol, only more potent – this is how this nose is, without increasing the ABV), noticeably sweeter, warm-campfire-peat, dying embers, a bit pungent, fried banana, candle wax, very seaweedy, candied citrus fruits, wet leather — this has to be one of the most complex noses out there (that I’ve nosed) – absolutely lovely – I’ve been nosing this for 5 minutes now… I think it’s time to taste.

Palate Rubbery, both in flavor and mouth feel, big tobacco, very salty but less sea-like, anise, not as sweet as the nose, oily smoke, quite nice though, compared to the standard 16yr… the balance seems a bit off here (can’t place it but, it’s off – could be me).  Still, very-very nice.

Finish Peppery, lasting smoke, a bit more biting than I expected given the 43%ABV, some vanilla, salty — Yum!

In sum As amazing as this one is, for some reason, I like the standard Lagavulin 16yr expression a bit more.  Perhaps it’s because that’s what I’m used to or maybe it’s that off-balance feel I got from the nose to the palate, not sure.  This is a nice little treat especially if you want the big warm peat but something a wee more sweet (should I keep rhyming here?  Because, I totally can.  Don’t think I can’t or won’t…  Oh, you don’t believe me??  “Beat Street, the king of the beat, I see walk that beat from across the street, uh-huh-huh, beat street is a lesson too, ’cause you can’t let the streets beat you…”)

Wow, that was unnecessary!  Carrying on — This is without a doubt a warmer-upper to be enjoyed during a cool autumn evening but again, as much as I liked it, I’d be happy to keep paying the lower $$ for a Lagavulin I like more (the standard 16yr expression).

A special thanks to The Scotch Hobbyist for the sample trade!  Cheers to you my friend!