Review by: The Muskox

This outstandingly-old Laphroaig is part of a series (a library?) of whiskies honouring Ian Hunter, owner of Laphroaig from 1908 to 1944. The different “books” celebrate his different contributions to shaping the Laphroaig we all know and love/hate. This one is apparently themed around his protection of Kilbride Stream, Laphroaig’s water source. A just cause, though I distinctly remember one master blender telling me “If you can actually taste the water source in your distillate, you’re doing something wrong”. Whatever. It’s 33-year-old Laphroaig, I’ll drink it with on flimsy pretense I like.

This is the third dram that was poured blind for me by my good friend Robert! I did take notes and make guesses while the drams were blind, but the notes and thoughts below are on the second pour. This way I can actually focus on taking notes, enjoyment, and giving the whisky a proper rest, as opposed to frantically trying to guess what I’m drinking.

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Distillery: Laphroaig.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islay.

ABV: 49.9%. Cask strength.

Age: 33 years. Distilled in 1987. Bottled in 2021.

Cask type: Refill bourbon barrels.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Light gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: More iodine than I usually get from Laphroaigs of this age. Strong fennel bulb and fragrant grassiness. Sweet-tart fruit notes of green apple, lemon, and kiwi, with a little mirin and honey too. Very briny – sea spray and dried kelp, and with enough rest in the glass, smoked salted fish too. Some savoury flavours of sauteed mushrooms and burning birch bark. Hazy chlorine rounds things out.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Arrives very sweet and with juicy fruit – coconut, pineapple, mandarin, and vanilla, as well as salted nuts and seaweed crackers. On the development comes deep earthy peat, tobacco, iodine, and charcoal. The whisky then does a complete 180, turning very herbal. Overbrewed green tea with a tiny drizzle of honey. Some sage and dried thyme. Old oak trees.

Finish: Medium-length. Moderate antiseptic. Deep forest. Salted nuts. Burning incense. Banana. Grapefruit pith.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Fruit offerings at the Kelp Temple”

Conclusion: A classic old whisky, and a particularly good old Laphroaig. The peat and the fruit are both very rich and surprisingly juicy. The structure and finish are great too. I’d love to it to have a little more complexity and savouriness– flavours which show up readily on very old whisky from other Islay distilleries. I was about to give it a slightly lower score because of this, but the incredible fruit won me over on the last few sips.

When I tried this blind, I wasn’t able to identify it as a Laphroaig, or even come close on the age. I wasn’t exactly expecting someone to pour me a whisky of this caliber as a blind, but still. I think trying this as part of a flight of 5 drams helped to mask that Laphroaig character. Coming back to it as only the second dram of this particular evening, it’s much stronger in the typical medicinal character than the other Laphroaigs of this age that I’ve tried. If I was a real Laphroaig nut, I think I’d be in heaven. But I’m not, so this is merely fantastic.

Final Score: 90.

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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.