Single Malt Report: Laphroaig 16 year old 1997 Signatory for K&L Wine Merchants (cask 3365)

Three years ago, I was mulling around a secret LA-area whisky treasure trove when I noticed a 1998 Laphroaig from Signatory's Unchillfiltered Collection.  It was a from a sherry butt and was priced $10 more than the '96 Laphroaig from the same range ($79.99 versus $69.99).  The shop's whisky buyer had pointed me to many gems in the past, so I asked him why the younger whisky was more expensive than the older one.  He said that was due to it being the new release and he recommended I buy it immediately.  I didn't.  When I returned two months later, that same '98 was $119.99.  The indie Laphroaig price explosion had begun.

(On a related note, during that same visit, the gentleman pointed out a 20+ year old bourbon distilled at Stitzel-Weller and bottled by Willett.  It was $199.99.  He recommended I buy that immediately.  I didn't.  That same bottle now sells for over $1000 on the secondary market.  Clearly he knew something I didn't.)

pic from the K&L site
because I can't find my
danged sample photo

Presently, indie bottlers believe Laphroaig (especially those from the mid to late '90s) commands steep prices.  The quality is usually high and the demand is great, especially as the official bottlings have drifted towards NAS and/or wood wonkery.  The single cask I'm reviewing today was sold exclusively through K&L Wine Merchants, right on the edge of the indie Laphroaig price hike.  K&L's pre-sold it for $99.99.  The following year K&L had another single cask of Laphroaig from Signatory.  That one was 15 years old and sold for $170.  What a difference a year makes.

Though I never got around to buying this whisky my buddy, Tetris, did and he supplied me with a generous sample (Thanks!) to review.

Distillery: Laphroaig
Ownership: Beam Suntory
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 16 years (April 28, 1997 - July 9, 2013)
Maturation: Hogshead
Cask: 3365
Alcohol by Volume: 55.2%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The nose is more floral, mintier, and vanilla-woodier than Monday's 15yo.  Definitely some tree sap.  More of a normal clean cut un-Laphroaig peat going on here.  A citronella candle.  A hint of exotic/tropical fruits.  New cheap sneakers.  After 15 minutes, there are new notes of roasted cashews, grilled pineapple, and dish soap.

The palate is both dingier and sweeter than the nose.  Very sugary.  Peat candy.  Lemon and orange hard candies.  Tart limes.  Gradually the peat gets a little more organic, but then there's also a bit of green wood bitterness.

Mild peat residue in the finish.  Citrus and sugar.  Tart, bitter, and ocean salty.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose is a little more Laphroaigy.  It's got some toasty peat, ocean air, and seaweed.  Less fruity, more focused on the phenolics.  Some chocolate maltiness underneath.

The bitterness improves in the palate.  Less sweets, more herbal.  A little bit of pepper heat.  Perkier peat.  Burnt/char notes and menthol.

Extinguished cigarettes, eucalyptus, and sugar cookies in the finish.

COMMENTS:
When neat, this is a safe Laphroaig for people who are not fans of Laphroaig.  The peat notes seem like they could be from any distillery and the palate is plenty sweet.  I think it improves measurably when water is added, with the sweetness getting brought under control and the burlier distillery character peeking out.  If you're still holding onto this one and haven't opened it yet, I recommend adding water if it disappoints when neat.  You'll find more of what you came for as the ABV drops.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - pre-sold for $99.99, then went for $115.99
Rating - 83 (3-5 points lower when neat)

Single Malt Report: Laphroaig 15 year old 1996 Signatory (cask 8511)

My wife loves Laphroaig.  One time I opened up a bottle of Laphroaig Quarter Cask and a few seconds later I heard her shout from the other side of the two-bedroom apartment, "I can smell that Laphroaig from here."  So in honor of Mother's Day, I'm doing three Laphroaig reviews this week.  Three Signatory Laphroaig reviews to be precise.  God bless the Laphroaig stank.

But it wasn't always "God bless the Laphroaig stank."  I couldn't stand the stuff when I first tried it.  I found it gross, like sipping piss from an ash tray.  But now I find it delicious, like sipping piss from an ash tray.

Anyway, if you ever meet Kristen, please be sure to offer her some Laphroaig, especially if it's cask strength raw refill ex-bourbon cask Laphroaig.  Brownie points!**

Distillery: Laphroaig
Ownership: Beam Suntory
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 15 years (November 26, 1996 - June 7, 2012)
Maturation: Hogshead
Cask: 8511
Alcohol by Volume: 54.3%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
Many thanks to Aaron of Booze Dancing for this sample!

NEAT
The nose hits first with the classic 'Phroaig pheeling that some of the current OBs are missing: a wallop of band-aids, antiseptic, iodine, and anise.  Then eucalyptus and salted caramels.  A slight metallic note.  And far in the distance, lychee and mango.

The palate is big on the herbal bitterness up front.  It's very mossy, with some cinders lingering behind.  Then a mild sweetness and fresh lime juice.  With time the cinders pick up and smoke billows forward.  A bit of peach and pineapple appear.

The very long finish is dingy, stinky, smoky.  Hints of citrus, salt, pineapple, and black pepper in the background.

Dare I add water?  Yes, I dare.  I'll drop it down to their Unchillfiltered Collection abv.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose calms down, picks up some florals and little bit of oregano.  Moss replaces the medicinal notes.

The palate barely changes.  It gets a little sweeter and picks up a spicy zing.  Some black licorice too.

The finish is shorter and sweeter.  Almost all smoke with a hint of mint.

COMMENTS:
It's not the most complex Laphroaig one'll find, but it delivers the distilled dosage many of us dearly miss from the current 10yo and Cask Strength OBs.  So that counts for A LOT.  If you find the whisky a bit too much, then I recommend adding a little bit of water as that settles it down slightly.  But if you're still dreaming of the official Cask Strength pre-005 batches, this is your hit right here.

Availability - Might be sold out
Pricing - a couple US retailers have this, or a sister cask, going for $170+  !O_O!
Rating - 88

**I'm hoping she'll comment below on how awesome Laphroaig is!

Single Malt Report: Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength (2014 release)

On Tuesday, I reviewed 2014's Lagavulin 16 year old.  On Thursday, I reviewed 2014's Lagavulin Distillers Edition.  Today I review 2014's Lagavulin 12 year old cask strength release.

Let's take a brief look at the fact that this 12 year old whisky is more expensive than the same distillery's 16 year old whisky.

Here are two reasons why its price is higher than the 16yo:
1.  It has "limited edition" printed on the label.
2.  It is cask strength rather than a reduced 43%abv.

Here are two reasons why I question those reasons:
1.  This edition was limited to a mere 31,428 bottles.  As they say in the bourbon world, it's Orphan Barrel "limited".
2.  Its ABV is all of 11.4 points higher than the 16's, a difference of 26.5 percent.  As you'll see below, the premium is now much greater than 26.5 percent.

Here are two more reasons why I take issue with the pricing:
3.  The 16 year old uses a mix of casks which include American oak and European oak of different fill counts.  The 12 year old uses only refill American oak, the cheapest of all casks.
4.  Math. The 12 year old is four years younger than the 16 year old.  Four fewer years of Angel's Share loss.  Four fewer years of tariffs on the casks.  Four fewer years taking up warehouse real estate.  Four fewer years of investment and risk.

With those factors in mind, let's see how the US prices compare between the 12 year old and the 16 year old as per winesearcher's price history model:

When I began reviewing whisky on this blog (September 2011)
12 year old: $90
16 year old: $78
(a 15.4% premium)

Today (May 2016)
12 year old: $131
16 year old: $87
(a 50.6% premium)

It's a good thing this 12 year old is usually damn good whisky.

Sample from the OCSC March event

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay
Maturation: refill American oak casks

Age: minimum 12 years
Release date: 2014

Chill-filtration? No
Caramel coloring? Probably not

Alcohol by Volume: 54.4%
Limited edition: 31,428

For this tasting I did a two glass side-by-side comparison of the whisky at full strength and reduced to 43%abv.

NEAT GLASS (54.4%abv)
The nose begins with peat moss, rock salt, soil, and mezcal.  Underneath those elements lay brighter notes of green apples and anise.  Here and there appear notes of kilned clay, chlorine, peach yogurt, and aged dry cheese.  It seems to get younger and rougher with time, as the sharper notes take control.

Big gorgeous peat that almost feels effervescent, almost glowing in the mouth, dominates the palate.  Keeping it all from just being one-note are fresh cherries, almonds, cocoa powder, crisp seaweed, zesty fresh ginger, minty menthol, and a little bit of sugar.

It finishes with smoldering peat bricks, salted almonds, menthol, and a little bit of sweetness.

REDUCED (43%) ABV GLASS
More hay than moss in the nose.  Raw and sugary.  Floral hand soap and vanilla extract.  Barbecue sauce, charred meat, and rosemary.  It vanishes entirely after 45 minutes.

The palate gets very sweet.  Lots of white fruits, especially pears.  A soft herbal bitterness meets a mild peating.  Vanilla extract, salt, and Talisker-ish pepper.  The bitterness becomes bracing after 20+ minutes nearly taking over the palate.

The finish is peppery, mossy, sweet, and salty.  A minor note of pear.  Not a bad length to it.

COMMENTS:
This is the first edition of the 12yo in which I've noticed how very young it reads.  At times it reminds me of the 5 year old Taliskers that Hunter Laing has bottled for K&L Wine Merchants.  I don't mean this as a bad thing.  I love young crazy peat behemoths (see Octomore, Port Charlotte, Kilchoman, Ledaig, and the aforementioned Taliskers).  Reducing this whisky to 43% showed me why they don't release it at a low strength, as its balance gets thrown off, the parts spill out, and it dissolves away.

Though this may be my least favorite of the editions I've tried (2009-2011, 2013-2014), it remains a high quality single malt.  It still stands up to the more expensive young Octomores and betters many of the single cask (and now more expensive) young Kilchomans.  So perhaps there's a third reason for Lagavulin 12's pricing:  The Market.

If 5 year old high strength peated whiskies are selling for $130-$200, who am I to say that a 12 year old high strength peated whisky is overpriced at $120?  Spend as you like, but be aware that your buying choices do not exist in a bubble.  The monster doesn't feed itself.  Personally, I'll pass.  I liked the 16 year old better this time.

Availability - Many specialty liquor retailers (this edition is still very easy to find)
Pricing - $110-$160, though it can be found in Minnesota for $99.99
Rating - 87

Single Malt Report: Lagavulin 1998 Distillers Edition (2014)

Ah the Distillers Edition, without an apostrophe.  So it's not the Distiller's Edition or the Distillers' Edition, but the Distillers Edition.  Is that The Queen's Punctuation?  Why should we want to take possession of this whisky if the distillers don't?  Have I made this joke before?  Yes, yes I have.

That's really all there is for the introduction today.  Okay, well, just a little more perhaps.  This is the second of the three regular/annual Lagavulin releases for 2014 that I'm reviewing this week (two years after their release).  The Lagavulin Distillers Edition (LDE) takes the 16 year old's base and gives it an additional short (6 month?) finish in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks.  Peat + sugary sherry.  Though that combo often doesn't work, the some folks think the LDEs always do.

My sample comes from this bottle which was part of
the OCSC July 2015 event

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay
Maturation & Age: approximately 16 years in ex-bourbon casks, then a short period of time in former Pedro Ximenez sherry casks

Chill-filtration? Yes
Caramel coloring? Likely so

Alcohol by Volume: 43%

NEAT
Its color is DiageoDoublePlusGold™.

The nose is a mix of the pretty and gritty.  The former is represented by loads of baked dried fruits, grape jam, fresh blueberries and plums, and floral honey.  The latter fills in the edges with rocks, sand, seaweed, and rubber bands.

The palate has a Caol-Ila-level of peat action which runs straight through the center of chocolate covered jelly rings.  There are also gumdrops, mint extract, and cinnamon-sugar cookies.  At first it feels very light on alcohol content, but it does develop some heat and a sharper mineral bite after some time in the glass.  It also picks up something I can only describe as peated watermelon Jolly Ranchers.

It finishes with berry fruit leather, mint candy, wood spice, seaweed, peat smoke residue, and a rumbling chili pepper heat.

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
The nose becomes more chocolatey, pruney, and floral.  New metal surface and cap gun caps rest in the back.  A sandy/ocean note sits in the midground.

Again the peat reads louder in the palate, where it's now ashy.  Smaller notes of mint, chili peppers, cinnamon candy, anise, and fertilizer rotate throughout.

The finish still has some weight as if the abv was higher than 30.  Things get pretty sweet here with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Maybe some black pepper.  The peat is nearly absent.

COMMENTS:
Curious stuff going on in this one.  The nose shows very little peat, mostly running on PX sticky fruitiness, but the palate frees the peat and drops the fruit.  Also, this is the rare whisky where I've found the palate to be more complex than the nose.  The whole thing takes to water pretty well, but there it also plays hide and seek with the spirit character.  Overall nothing really wows here, but neither does it demonstrate any weaknesses.

A lot of folks really like the Lagavulin Distillers Editions.  It's not that I don't like them, but I've never found any reason to be too enthusiastic about the quality.  The problems are exacerbated by the fact that I can get the regular 16yo (which I always enjoy more) for $57 at my local Costco, meanwhile the local specialty retailers (with only a couple exceptions) are selling the LDE for $120+.  But even if I were to ignore pricing, I'd take the 16 over the LDE any day.  And if I were to pay $100+, that money would go to the other annual Limited Edition Lagavulin, which I'll review tomorrow.

Availability - Many specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $75-$100 on the East Coast, $100-$140 on the West Coast
Rating - 84

The Life of a Whisky Bottle: Lagavulin 16 year old (2014)

Yes, I've reviewed Lagavulin 16 before, but I'm doing this again for two reasons.  Firstly, this is from my own bottle.  Secondly, and thematically, this I'm reviewing all three regular range Lagavulins from 2014 this week.

This was a strange bottle.  It was opened in October 2014 and.......I didn't like it very much.  It was oddly bland, bleh, and watery.  So that December, I put the bottle away half full.  I brought it back out five months later, planning to do some blending with it, but when I poured a glass the whisky had improved significantly.  I immediately set aside a sample of this good part of the bottle.  That little bottle joined another little bottle of the sample I'd taken from the unimpressive top half.  I tasted the samples side-by-side this past Sunday night!

Distillery: Lagavulin

Owner: Diageo
Type: Single Malt
Region: Islay
Maturation: probably a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks

Age: minimum 16 years

Chill-filtration? Yes
Caramel coloring? Yes

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Bottle code: L4219CM000
(Bottle was gifted to me after I led a private group tasting event)

This bottle's usage:
25% - Swaps and shares
15% - Whisky experiments
15% - Graded tastings
45% - Casual drinking

---

FROM THE TOP HALF OF BOTTLE:

NEAT
Its color is, of course, DiageoGold™.

The nose begins with ocean-soaked peat that feels more toasted than smoked.  At first.  Then comes the next-day cigar butt note, which is soon met by anise and peach skin.  Wasabi (which, admittedly, I had the night I did the tasting) and hot oregano notes float throughout.  Brief notes of manure and dried cherries arrive later.

A nice even bitterness runs throughout the palate, joined by rolling smoke clouds, a vanilla cookie sweetness underneath.  After 10-15 minutes a big green mossy note rises up.  Then there's a little bit of ash, salt, and sand.  A note I used to think was fish, is actually seaweed.  After 25 minutes a buttery caramel notes starts to take over.  Despite all these notes, the mouthfeel is quite thin.

There's a good length to the finish considering the thinness of the mouthfeel and abv.  Tart citrus, moss, sand, seaweed, and nice bitter smoke.  A happy lack of sweetness.

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
The nose becomes more floral and less smoky.  There's some confectioner's sugar, orange candy, and a hint of band-aids.

The palate is earthy and rooty, mixed with a slight sweetness.  Sort of like burnt sugar cookies.  Hint of herbal bitterness.

The finish is now more sweet than bitter.  Vanilla and dried seaweed.

COMMENTS:
There is something very comforting about Lagavulin 16's nose.  The ocean and peat and subtle fruitiness are an easy combo to ease into.  The ocean note is particularly fascinating since most of the current production is shipped to the mainland and not aged in seaside warehouses.  Unfortunately the palate feels quite thin and watery.  It's missing body and oompf.  Also it's almost totally bereft of sherry cask character.  Perhaps this is due to the wood reconditioning referenced in this David OG post about Lagavulin.  I'd take Caol Ila 12yo over this.

---

FROM THE BOTTLE HALF OF THE BOTTLE:

NEAT
The nose is huge, rich with dried fruits (like cherries, cranberries, and apricots) and a cinnamon syrup.  The peat has gone floral, like some teenage Longrows.  Roses and more roses.  Very pretty.  There's also barbecue pork, raw cocoa, and spicy honey.  There's hint of raspberry jam hiding behind a short mossy wall.

The palate is much denser and dirtier now.  Big char and ash (reminiscent of recent Ardbeg Ten), dark chocolate, chili oil, and charred limes.  This balanced out by an orangey sweetness, black grapes, and a hint of that cinnamon syrup.

The sweets vanish from the palate leaving an orange peel essence.  Very dark chocolate, salt, ash, softer peat, and more of that chili oil note follow.

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
More citrus in the nose now.  The floral note backs into the midground.  Horse stable, beach sand, and a hint of peaches.

The palate is more candied, tangy.  The ash has washed away.  More peppercorns than chili oil.  A squirt of clover honey.

The finish is peppery and lightly sweet, with moderate smoke and pencil shavings.

COMMENTS:
Damn.  This is fab.  It might be the best Lagavulin 16yo I've had.  (And, no, I've never had any of the White Horse bottlings.)  The nose and palate are immense and full considering the low ABV.  Some good age shows in the nose, with the lovely peat and dense rich fruit, but there's still plenty of crisp youth existing alongside, especially in the palate.

---

IN CONCLUSION:
This bottle went from the weakest Lag 16 to the strongest Lag 16 I've ever had.  The thinness became fatness, if you will.  Something excellent happened as oxygen commingled with the whisky in the dark for five months in a half full bottle.  And it taught me not to give up on a bottle.  Of course, not all bottles recover like this, in fact I can't think of too many more that have transformed as such, but I may just experiment with oxidation more often in the future.

Availability - Almost all specialty liquor stores
Pricing - $65 to $115(!), also California Costcos often sell it for $56.99
Rating - 89 (bottom half only, the top half was 10+ points lower)

Single Malt Report: Auchentoshan 23 year old 1990 Archives #6850

On Wednesday and Thursday I reviewed Auchentoshan whiskies and today I will again review an Auchentoshan whisky.  And then that's it for Auchentoshan here, for the foreseeable future.  There ain't no samples of it left in my stash.

Today's Lowland single malt is the oldest of this week's three, but also has the lowest alcohol-by-volume.  The good folks at Archives, who are also the proprietors of the Whiskybase shop, selected a hogshead which may have been losing more to the angels (or devils or thieves or rats) than the cask owner may have desired.  Archives and Whisky-Fässle split the cask which was weighing in at a total of 47.7%abv and had an outturn of only 142, which means it had a loss of around 60% of its contents.  That's a lot of empty cask space.  These sorts of casks can be pretty fun, though they can also be pretty gross.  Having enjoyed a number of Archives's whiskies, I'm betting on the former.

Distillery: Auchentoshan

Independent Bottler: Archives
Range: The Indian ducks and their allies

Age: 23 years old (11/11/1990 to 9/2014)

Maturation: Hogshead
Cask #: 6850
Limited bottling: 71

Region: Lowlands

Alcohol by Volume: 47.7%

NEAT
The color is the lightest of the three whiskies, a nice straw color.

That straw comes through on the nose.  Oats, barley, rice cakes.  Lightly earthy.  Soon it develops a nice cookie dough note that lingers throughout.  That's followed up cherry Jolly Ranchers, fresh raspberries, and sesame seeds.

The softly layered palate has some earth, honeyed sweetness, something savory (beef stock?), white fruits, lemons, and limes.  A nice barley delivery.

The lightly sweet finish shows honey, lemons, and toasted oak spices.  Despite the fragility of notes, it lasts for a long time.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The fruit gets louder in the nose, with stone fruits joining the berries.  Black licorice.  Still lots of cereal grains.

The palate becomes surprisingly complex.  Moss, barley, fresh herbs, something metallic (copper?), and a nice compact white fruit and honey concoction.  Yet the sweetness is kept mild and steady.

The finish has the fresh herbs and moss.  Mild honey sweetness again, now encased in a menthol glow.

COMMENTS:
It was Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail who convinced me to try this.  And the really weird thing about this whisky -- considering my experience with indie Auchentoshans and this cask's strange outturn -- is that it's not at all weird.  Between the hay, earth, grains, berries, and green herbs it proves to be a very rustic whisky.  Something nice and light for a country spring evening.

What is unusual about it is its youth and the prominence of the barley spirit.  I'm going to guess that may have something to do with the mostly empty cask.  Time has softened the rougher parts of the new make, but left its heart.  CJ and Menno and whomever else has the good nose over there, have done it again.

Availability - Only through Whiskybase Shop
Pricing - €135 pre-shipping
Rating - 89

Single Malt Report: Auchentoshan 15 year old 1997 Old Malt Cask #HL9807

This is the second of three indie Auchentoshan reviews this week.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I enjoy independently bottled Auchentoshan better than the official ones because the indie Auchs are consistently odd, in a good way.  This whisky, whose sample was provided by Florin (a prince) is from the Laing family's Old Malt Cask range.

Distillery: Auchentoshan

Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Range: Old Malt Cask

Age: 15 years old (12/1997 to 5/2013)

Maturation: refill hogshead
Cask #: HL9807
Limited bottling: 211

Region: Lowlands

Alcohol by Volume: 50%

NEAT
Though older than yesterday's 13yo, its color is noticeably lighter.

Once again, the nose fires all sorts of notes out at once.  Peach nectar, anise, menthol, whipped butter, strawberry candy, and cookie dough.  Giving it some time in the glass......it gets rosier, picks up some lemon candy, and something moss-like without actually being peat.

The palate starts out with a pleasantly dirty earthy note.  A bit of a pepper sting up front.  Ginger beer.  The third sip suddenly produces a massive floral note.  Violets, perhaps?  And then the curious mossy note from the nose.

The finish is long and citrusy, growing more sweeter with time.  Smaller notes of caramel and green herbs appear here and there.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
Now there are band-aids in the nose.  Dirty hay, too.  Then berry jam and a solid malt note.

The farmy note shows up in the palate too.  But it's also sweet and lemony with some baking spice around the edges.

The finish is sweet, spicy, citrusy, and farmy.

COMMENTS:
Again, an indie Auchentoshan that keeps cranking out simultaneous dissimilar notes, and then changes course, and then does it from a different angle.  I don't know what to say other than, it usually works.  If you're looking for a well sculpted consistent whisky, then this won't do it for you.  Though I like it, I wouldn't actually go out and buy a bottle of the stuff because I can imagine it gets exhausting pretty quickly.

Availability - Perhaps some specialty European retailers
Pricing - $60-$80 (without shipping)
Rating - 82