Category Archives: Laphroaig

Laphroaig An Cuan Mor

Islay, Laphroaig, Scottish, ,
Distillery: Laphroaig
Name: An Cuan Mor
Region: Islay
Age: ?
Chill-filtered: No
Strength: 48%
Batch No.: N/A
Bottle Size: 3cl
Price: ?
Nose: Light peat, rich, smoke, dark fruits, sweet, metallic, brine
Taste: Creamy, lightly peaty, salty, liquorice, spicy
Finish: Long, peaty, spicy
Rating: 8/10
Currently only available as a Travel Retail bottling, the name translates to ‘Big Ocean’. It is double matured, initially in first-fill ex-American white oak bourbon casks and then in European oak.
It has a wonderfully complex nose with the characteristic peat and smoke having a bit more of a background role than usual. It is really rich and full of dark fruits, a real sweetness but with a slight metallic edge finishing with a brine like quality, I’m thinking cockles or muscles.
The palate is super smooth with a creamy mouth-feel. It is only lightly peaty with a light liquorice quality coming through which leads onto a quick hit of salt before the spiciness kicks in at the end. The finish is long and peaty, as it always is with Laphroaig, with a real spice to it.
Thanks to Tom (@Tom_Blumsom) for the sample.

Laphroaig Cairdeas Origin

Islay, Laphroaig, Scottish, , , ,
Distillery: Laphroaig
Name: Cairdeas Origin
Region: Islay
Age: ?
Chill-filtered: ?
Strength: 51.2%
Batch No.: N/A
Bottle Size: 3cl
Price: ?
Nose: Citrus, orchard fruits, slight saltiness, fresh
Taste: Peaty, sweet, light, smooth, spicy
Finish: Long, smoky, warm, spicy
Rating: 7/10
Cairdeas is Gaelic for friendship and this bottling was released to celebrate the popularity of the ‘Friends of Laphroaig’ (FOL) programme.
Unusual on the nose this one, I don’t really get and peat coming through which is unexpected for a Laphroaig. It is light, fruity with a citrus cleanness to it and a slight salty note to it adding to the freshness.
The palate is also light and refreshing but with a wonderful smoothness to it, it also has a great mouth coating quality as well. The peat starts off quite subtle with the sweetness being the initial power but the peat just builds and builds, easing the sweetness. This leads onto the long, smoky finish that is both warm and spicy. I left this to aerate for a while and when coming back to it there was a strong coffee flavour to it, it actually really worked well.
At 51.2% I was really expecting it to have a bite to it, but it does not really. There is some alcohol burn on the palate but not much and I was quite happy to drink it without water. I did try adding some however and this did take that small bite away but the warm, spicy notes remain. The nose is a little lighter and fruitier with water.
Thanks to Tom (@Tom_Blumsom) for the sample.

Laphroaig QA Cask

Islay, Laphroaig, Scottish, , ,
Distillery: Laphroaig
Name: QA Cask
Region: Islay
Age: ?
Chill-filtered: ?
Strength: 40%
Batch No.: N/A
Bottle Size: 3cl
Price: £48 (100cl)
Nose: Slightly sweet, light peat, fresh, floral, metallic
Taste: Peat, slight sweetness, liquorice, watery
Finish: Long, lightly peaty, ashy dryness
Rating: 5/10
The QA Cask is a travel retail only bottling and is matured firstly in ex-bourbon barrels, followed by charred American white oak casks (Quercus Alba in Latin), which is where it gets it name.
The nose is more subtle than expected for a Laphroaig, there is a slight sweetness there and the peak it also quite tame. It has a light, fresh aroma to it but with a slight metallic edge at the end.
Onto the palate and I find it a little disappointing to be honest, it has the peat, nothing too powerful but it is in the foreground. There is also a little sweetness and liquorice towards the end but it is just lacking body, for me it needs to be at least 43%, maybe even 46% to get the most out of it. The finish is quite long consisting of peat and ash.
It has a pleasant aroma to it and the lack of body does mean that it is an easy drinking dram, it is quite light for a Laphroaig and could be good on a hot summer’s day.
Thanks to Tom (@Tom_Blumsom) for the sample.

Monthly Meetup 2 – Laphroaig Triple Wood

Laphroaig, Monthly Meetup, , , ,
Distillery: Laphroaig
Name: Triple Wood
Region: Islay
Age: N/A
Chill-filtered: ?
Strength: 48%
Batch No.: N/A
Bottle Size: 70cl
Price: £42
Nose: Peaty, engine oil, sweet, smooth, citrus freshness
Taste: Peaty, light, fresh, sweetness, slightly dry, smooth
Finish: Medium, peaty, dry, oak
Rating: 7/10

This is the third of the Laphroaig range that I have tried, the 10 year old and the Quarter Cask being the other two, both lovely. The Triple Wood is essentially the Quarter Cask, which I love, finished in Oloroso sherry casks, which I adore as a finish, so I was pretty hopeful with this one.

Disappointed I was not, none of us were to be honest. Now we all enjoy an Islay which is why we wanted to try a slightly better one than most of us had tried previously. The peat was obviously a powerful quality pretty much throughout this dram, but it also had so much more to offer, which it had picked up from the quarter cask and the sherry cask. It added an extra depth to it that left us all wanting a top up, and more annoyingly, left us all wondering what the 18 year old is like.

I hear a lot of people say that Laphroaig, and many other Islays, are all about the peat, but I say to those people, you need to try the Triple Wood in order to appreciate the complexity that can also be present. It is a wonderful dram.