Review by: The Muskox
It’s a rare treat to try a dram of this calibre completely blind. This was poured as part of my whisky club’s two-day mystery tasting. I missed the first of the two days due to a work trip, so I’ve been avoiding the group’s pages since then to avoid spoilers! I had heard a little buzz about the success of the event, but didn’t really consider that the whiskies would be of this level…
As per my blind tasting policy, my tasting notes, score, thoughts, and guesses are all locked in before the reveal. For this dram, I had no idea what I was being poured, aside from that it was probably whisky of some kind.
Distillery: Laphroaig.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Islay.
ABV: 53.5%.
Age: 30 years. Distilled in 1985. Bottled in 2016.
Cask type: Ex-bourbon barrels.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Medium gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Alright, this is a moderately-peated malt. Sweet and summery fruit – pineapple, ripe peaches, and pear cider. Rosemary and black pepper. Floral honey. Slightly mineral – smashed mossy rocks. Scotch Bonnet peppers.
Palate: Medium texture, medium proof. Took a sip and, oh wait, this is Bowmore. Arrives sweet and fruity with pineapple and honey, then the peat comes in, heavier than on the nose. Tar-filled, oily smoke turns to clover honey, then floral tea and gingerbread. There’s a bit of a meaty savoury note in the middle of the peat, maybe sauteed mushrooms.
Finish: Medium-length. Honey and lavender. Sweet citrus and candied ginger. Loads of burning cedar. Still tea, but closer to lapsang souchong here.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Peaceful river tubing with drink in hand (DO NOT ATTEMPT)”
Conclusion: This is really good. It’s moderately complex, but the flavours are really excellent. The mix of peat and sweet is very elegant.
This seems like a classic Bowmore. It has the lavender, the tea, the pine, the oily peat, even the tropical fruit. The only thing that’s throwing me off is that this seems like a meticulously-blended OB, rather than an angular and unique single cask. That normally doesn’t really affect the guess, but I have no idea what OB Bowmore this would be. While I’m looking for alternate explanations, that mushroom note is very Bunna-Moine, but the rest of the flavours don’t fit at all. Maybe it could be a peated Amrut? That’d fit the tropics and gingerbread, but not the lavender.
Guess: Single malt, Islay, moderately-peated, 10-15 years old, 46%, ex-bourbon casks.
Shot in the dark: Bowmore, maybe an OB limited edition of some kind?
Final Score: 86.
Post-reveal thoughts: …Okay then. I suppose this isn’t that shocking – I’ve had old Laphroaig before, and it does get grassy, floral, sweet, and sort of converges with Bowmore. That said, this didn’t have any of the iodine or salt that I expect from old Laphroaig, and I picked up pretty much no oak whatsoever. It’s surprisingly delicate, too.
For what it’s worth, I had about 5 mL of my sample left to pour after the reveal. I let that sit in the glass for a good 20 minutes. Knowing what this is, I do get that old-whisky softness/beeswax on the nose. Maybe I haven’t trained myself to look for that in random blinds yet – nobody’s ever poured me a blind whisky this old before! It definitely tastes like an old whisky, and has that very good structure of excellent old whiskies, but falls short on complexity. I think my blind score still stands, even knowing what this is and how much it costs.
My new problem is that this dram will affect how I guess all the other blinds in the set…!
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.
Malt Runners 