| Rich Howard | a bracing smack of peat smoke, tar, pine nuts, mushrooms, charred wood... after a few minutes, some strong medicinal notes, antiseptic, fresh gauze bandage, latex band-aid, deep earthy notes of charcoal, black dirt, a pile of wet leaves, chili powder, barbecued shrimp. the palate is quite strong, and very smoky, with honey-glazed ham, buttered pie crust, tangerine and lemon citrus, and rich, sweet caramel. water seems to make the nose even stronger and smokier, with even more charred wood. after a few minutes, some buttered pie crust here as well now, along with deeper notes of heavily baked vanilla custard and singed marshmallow, graham crackers, honey-glazed ham, roasted root vegetables, fresh mushrooms covered in dirt. the palate is still strongly smoky sweet, with spiced citrus, key lime pie, singed sweet cream and toasted graham cracker, and plenty of pine nuts, medicinal antiseptic notes and charred wood on the finish. summary: an exceptional sweet and smoky dram... i have a feeling you could take this on a long journey with time and water. [tasted blind for the 2011 Awards] |
| Keith Wood | Glass: Classic Malt
- Colour: Very pale (9ct) yellow gold
- Nose: Lots of glowing enbers, fresh Atlantic sea-air and some toffee-apple. In fact this is so reminiscent of my childhood bonfire nights (you know, Nov. 5th when we celebrate Guy Fawkes failure to blow up the Houses of Parliament) but in this case held on an Atlantic beach.
- Palate: Even more peat on the palate, in fact that bonfire just exploded in a very peaty way. It's also really quite fruity and suggests hot raspberries swimming in vanilla sauce.
- Finish: Long and gently peaty.
- Overall Impression: If only those childhood bonfires would have been held on an Atlantic beach! This is wonderful whisky, lots of peat but fruity too. I love that nose, but the palate isn't bad either. |
| Oliver Klimek | Colour: Pale straw -
Nose: A burning hospital served with custard and sprinkled with gingerbread spices. -
Palate: Strong peat, lemon zest, liqourish, honey, ginger, cloves and hints of nutmeg. -
Finish: Very long and sweetly smoky. -
Overall: This is a quintesential Laphroaig, much cleaner and crisper than the original bottlings in a way. |
