Laphroaig Elements L1.0
58.6% ABV - Islay, Scotland
Nose: Light fruits with wafts of peat smoke and salt. There’s a rich barbecue smoke, with faint tropical notes and some white orchard fruits coming through.
Taste: Surprisingly easy drinking for its strength, with fruity, peat smoke, pine wood, chicory, and smoldering campfire spices. It’s a great balance between fruitiness and smoky depth.
Finish: Barbecued pineapple rings, smoke, ocean air, and a faint hint of lime and pepper. The finish lingers with just the right amount of smoky sweetness.
This Laphroaig has almost Sherry-like notes, though according to the website, it’s only matured in ex-bourbon casks! It’s complex, bottled at cask strength, and non-chill filtered—which I always appreciate.
The back label features some markings—59 32 574/TF—that I originally thought were coordinates, but now I’m unsure. The box design is also worth mentioning; it’s adorned with pencil sketches, which add to its aesthetic appeal, though there’s little extra information about the whisky itself.
This is the first limited release under Barry McAffer, who took over as distillery manager after John Campbell moved on. Interestingly, McAffer has already left Laphroaig, despite only being at the helm for a short time.
There’s no age statement on this bottle, but given that the annual Càirdeas releases usually have a base of 7 to 8 years, I’d expect something similar here. That said, it does taste a bit older, which could be down to their experimentation coming through in the complexity
Note: I decided to experiment with GPT-4o to help refine this review after training it with some of my previous ones.
Details: (Official) Our incredible distillery team had free rein to experiment and push the boundaries with the new Elements series. They’ve amped up the flavour of Elements 1.0 with a few main factors. We usually use two 5.5 tonne mashes to make Laphroaig, but for Elements, the team also added an 8.5 tonne mash. This size was used pre-1990s, so this combination of 8.5 and 11 tonne mash is a mix of styles from today and from the past. Matured in ex-bourbon casks.
From the mashes, we always pull semi-cloudy wort, which gives our liquid a fruity flavour that doesn’t compromise on peaty punch. This time, we also pulled out the cloudy wort to really add more peat and phenolics to the tropical fruit notes.
Barley Variety: Concerto and Optic, both Islay grown.
Yeast Variety: Liquid mauri.
Tasting Notes (Official): Note: Salty and smoky bacon, woody bonfire embers overlay hints of sweet strawberry jam and charred pineapple. Palate: Spicy and peppery flavour on the tongue with hints of tropical fruit followed by wintery cloves and liquorice. Finish: A warming and smoky mouthfeel with a drying, long peaty finish.
Tasted 3 October 2024. (Posted 4 October 2024.)
