Back when I started my whisky adventure I used to visit De Whiskykoning on a very regular basis (some say a too regular basis). After discovering Islay whiskies and cask strength independent casks, so fairly quickly, I was doubting between this Laphroaig, and a version of Ardbeg’s Airigh Nam Beist releases.

My friend TT and I got to try them both and we chose this Laphroaig over its almost-neighbour. The fact that the shop-owner told us a story about the Ardbeg and the bottling being named after a closeby spring with dead animals in it didn’t help. Rob Stevens, of De Whiskykoning, always used the stories marketing departments spun and pushed them to 11 for sarcastic and comedic effect.

Anyway, of course I drank the whisky rather quickly and decided a couple of years later to start looking for a second bottle. Through whisky buddy SJ I managed to get one and I opened it during COVID and finished it last night.

Sniff:
Freshly polished leather, iodine and some other old fashioned Laffy notes. After a minute there’s a weird soapy note. There’s a hint of hoppy Belgian ale too.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of heat, but it’s nowhere near as sharp as a 59.5% should be. It does build a bit after a couple of second. Some iodine, some salt, some seaweed and smoke. A fairly limited palate.

Swallow:
The finish is slightly stronger than I thought it would be.

I think oxygen got the better of this one. There was only about 4cl left when I poured this, and there had been this little for a while. Still, the slightly more subtle peat compared to more modern Islay drams, combined with a bit more old fashioned approach really makes for a lovely dram.

I should have drank this earlier, before it got too oxidized. However, even thought it wasn’t as good as it should be, it still is a rather nice and drinkable dram.

86/100