Laphroaig 2010 Càrn Mòr Williamson 7-Year
46% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Heavy peat. While I waited some minutes after pouring, the uncovered glass wafted smoke about the area. Light petrol or diesel, lightly medicinal, freshly unearthed roots – this dram is a bit of a peat monster! However, there is an underlying tone of sweetness… and rich dark fruit. Water (and more time) help to emphasize the fruits and bits of burnt citrus peel.
Taste: More flavours emerge on the tongue: starting with smoked meat, this gives way to berries, red fruit – plums and cherries, while maintaining a backbone of earthy peat. Is that a salty note?
Finish: Heavy smoke, damp wood, cola, and charcoal. Moderate influence from liquorice root and spice with a lasting fine ash smoke. Toasted nuts came through with water.
This is a fantastic single cask offering of Laphroaig. Distilled in 2010 then matured in a Sherry Butt for 7 years – bottled in 2018. I think that this spirit benefits from additional time resting in the glass before it is consumed. Some of the more powerful smoke lifts away to expose the fruits that ultimately make this an instant favourite of mine.
An incredible whisky, at incredible value, for 7-years old. The nose is absolutely one of my top 5 for anything I’ve ever tasted (as far as the memory serves me, anyway!) While breaking down the score by component, I wonder if its youth is working against it for the taste and finish… it’s a slope from the start – not steep, but steady. Regardless, this is fantastic whisky. This tastes like a Laphroaig deserving of the Cairdeas fanfare.
Laphroaigs of this nature - independent, single cask, matured in ex-wine cask - are few and far between where I currently reside, and so they have been marked as “insta-purchases”. Now, there is obviously a risk factor involved, but in defence I can draw the parallel with packages of trading cards: you know you want what is inside, but you cross your fingers and toes it’s something special. (I was huge hockey card fan in my early years!) I tasted this whisky side-by-side Bowmore 18 Manzanilla, from the Vintner’s Trilogy, and it stood up and contrasted well. I think I might have to see if any bottles of this Laphroaig remain on the shelf, as this one is draining fast!
Limited to 885 Bottles from 1 Cask.
Tasted 11 March 2019. (Posted 13 March 2019.)
