Review by: Raygun

On a few occasions, I’ve bought a bottle of something I reviewed as a sample or bar pour. When I re-review, I’ll include some comparison with my original impressions. In this instance it was from way back in 2016. My method is to write notes and score independently. I know I liked it enough to buy a bottle, but I don’t look back at my initial review until I’ve written everything out for this one. 

Here we have the quasi-legendary 2015 Cairdeas celebrating Laphroaig’s 200th anniversary. To mark the occasion, they did things as old-school as possible: all floor maltings and distilled on the smaller stills. I’ve also read that it was entirely aged on Islay, but not sure about that.

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Distillery: Laphroaig

Bottler: Laphroaig

Region/style: Islay single malt Scotch

ABV: 51.5%. 

Age: NAS

Cask type: Bourbon casks 

Color: 0.5 yellow gold. Possily natural color? Non-chill-filtered.

Price: $72

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Nose: Clean smoke, with relatively little of the typical medicinal/disinfectant character, but there is an earthy dimension. Sea breeze. Vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel. A little herbal, like fennel. 

Palate: Explodes here. Very malty and again a briny and slightly earthy flavor. Loads of caramel and vanilla, all embroidered with rich, clean woodsmoke. Again not so much of the medicinal type of phenols. Does have some seaweed flavor, like a wakame salad. Fennel again.

Finish: Beach bonfire. Smoked salted caramel over vanilla ice cream. Sprinkled with lemon zest. With a couple of helpings of cereal. Very clear and unadorned, but at the same time it’s got such depth and the flavors are so vivid. Definitely on the sweet side. 

Bonus wife note: “I could drink this.”

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Conclusion: I’m honestly not the biggest Laphroaig fan out there. Not typically my favorite kind of peat, but there have been some very good ones for sure. This is up there with the best I’ve had, though I haven’t tried heavy hitters like the 25 and up stuff. Not soft or flabby at all, but nor is it heavy on the dirtier medicinal side. Clean, powerful, and the flavors are sharp. I’m also a big fan of the 2013 Cairdeas. Not sure which I’d prefer. 

Re-review thoughts: Notes are along similar lines, picking out the clean smoke, caramel, and earthy/vegetal flavors. I did call it “mild peat” on my first pass, and I don’t know what I was thinking there. There’s nothing mild about it, but maybe I was expecting more of a classic Laphroaig dirty profile. Score is very close. 88 then. Almost identical now.  

Buy again? Would require an auction at this point, and I haven’t dipped my toes in those. Yet. 

Final Score: 87

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)