Name: Laphroaig 30 Year Old Single Malt Cask Strength
Color: Orange brown
Nose: Sweet mandarin citrus, peat, smoke, reduced iodine
Taste: Citrus, vanilla, peat, smoke, and wood
Review:
“Big boy strong” scotch from the Highlands of Scotland, the Laphroaig 30 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt has arrived from Islay. I am a fan of Islay whisky’s and Laphroaig is one of my go to scotches in the winter. There is nothing better to warm you up after braving the cold weather through the streets of NYC then a glass of Laphroaig as you sit in your tiny-ass 350 sf apartment and warm up.
I got the opportunity to try this scotch at Whiskey Live in NYC and enjoyed a nice sized dram by their brand ambassador. This single malt is 107 proof and has been twice matured in ex-bourbon casks. This whisky has been double matured in first and second-fill ex-bourbon barrels. Those 30 years in the barrels have created a very good scotch, but it comes at a very high price.
Laphroaig 30 Year Old is a very well balanced whisky with great flavor, but at $800 it is not very well balance for my bank account. The thing I find with Laphroaig is this; I can always taste their baseline flavor of smoke and peat and that gets into my head and takes away from what they have created. This is not a bad thing, but I have a hard time separating the flavor from the attempt to create something new versus what I just paid for a bottle. For example, Laphroaig Cairdeas is much sweeter and cheaper, but again has the underlying flavor. Naturally, the 30 year old is far superior to Cairdeas, but that is expected after thirty years of maturing.
Laphroaig 30 Year Old is very good but at $800 per bottle you have to be able to afford it.
If you like it, drink it!
