Laphroaig 21 Year (1998) Douglas Laing’s Old Particular

Review by: The Muskox

I tried this whisky at a Douglas Laing tasting – what a blast that lineup was. This Laphroaig was to be fourth out of six drams, but I decided to hold off on it and try it again another day to save my palate. That turned out to be a really good idea.

Distillery: Laphroaig.

Bottler: Douglas Laing.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 59.9%. Cask strength.

Age: 21 years. Distilled in December 1998. Bottled in April 2020.

Cask type: Cask #DL14020, a refill sherry butt.

Price: N/A, tasting.

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: No shortage of peat here. Hardwood bonfire, barbequed hospital, salted licorice, dead leaves, smoked gouda, tourtière, and All-Dressed chips. porks: pulled, peameal bacon’d, and cider-braised. Rich autumnal (pumpkin) spice, black pepper, cayenne, and tarragon. Eventually the sherry emerges: cherries in syrup, prunes, orange bitters, vanilla, amber maple syrup, walnuts, and dark chocolate. Some slightly overcooked coffee and oily burning birch bark. A real deep one.

Palate: Medium-oily texture. Immediate spicy peat slap on the arrival, with spicy chili, tobacco, and damp earth. There’s a good amount of sweetness mixed in – sour cherry pie, flamed orange peel, tamarind chutney, cinnamon hearts, brown sugar, barbeque sauce, and caramelized red onions. Heavy medicinal peat smoke – creosote, swamp mud, iodine, and charred steak with baked potato. Hot peppers and spicy cinnamon toward the finish.

Finish: Long and smoky-spicy. Smoked brisket, or wait, is it braised brisket? More earthy-nutty baked potato. Tandoori lamb, camphor, iodine, and lapsang souchong. Hot cocoa, strawberry ice cream, and cloves. Lingering charcoal.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “A swanky night out in Chibougamau”

Conclusion: What a fireball! Thank goodness I didn’t try this right before that Bowmore. All the intense medicinal savoury peatiness you could ever want out of Laphroaig. It’s overwhelmingly peaty, one of the heaviest whiskies I’ve ever tried. The nose is incredibly layered, not just with different smoke notes, but with sweet and spice as well. Also, with flavours of peameal bacon, all-dressed chips, maple syrup, and tourtière, maybe this whisky was specially picked for out Canadian tasting. What a banger. If you’re a Laphroaig nut, go find this bottling.

Final Score: 89.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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