Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition Review

Here. We. Go… with the tasting and review of the Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition. Tad dramatic on the opening I know, but this is a whisky that’s worth the drama. Why? Because it’s good. Dang good, darn good… damn good. SorryNotSorry for the spoiler, but I’m such a fan of this I can’t keep it inside.

The older I get, the more I love ex-Bourbon whiskey and this is 16 years of ex-Bourbon Laphroaig goodness. So, let’s get to it.

Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Islay, Scotland

Distiller: Laphroaig
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: ex-Bourbon
Age: 16 Years
ABV: 48%

Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Price: $140

White background tasting shot with the Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition bottle and a glass of whiskey next to it.

“For our 200 year anniversary, we created a limited edition 16 Year Old expression. It was incredibly well-received, so we have decided to release another iteration. This remarkable dram has spent 16 years waiting patiently in ex-Bourbon barrels – giving a leather and vanilla sweetness to complement our signature rich and smoky style. Perfect for the long evenings of late summer and into cosier nights of Autumn.” – Laphroaig

Tasting Notes

EYE
Apple juice

NOSE
Peat, grilled apples, vanilla-laced French Pastries, honey, juicy pears, herbal and touches of plastic, iodine, oak and meaty notes.

PALATE
Briny, smokey, fruity, vanilla-laced French Pastries, graham, smoke, copper, spice and grilled meat with a bit of barley water.

FINISH
Long -> Smoke, malt, vanilla saltwater taffy and minerality.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Great, full round, sweet warm oily

Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition – Overall

Aroma is smoky, coastal, and fresh pastries married by an underlying fruity dessert sweetness and earthy oakiness; Palate carries the coastal notes and adds juicy fruit and delicately sweet notes with barley water and a metallic twang; Finish is smoke heavy with light sweet and earthy notes.

Over the course of several weeks and several glasses, I went from being a fan to a fanatic. This is a fabulous Scotch.

Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition – Final Thoughts and Score

So good. So ****ing good. There’s a heaviness to it, a depth and warmth that approaches the meatiness of Lagavulin as it opens but retains that sharpness of Laphroaig.

Add a dash of water, let it sit and it gets deeper. Deeper malty, deeper oaky, deeper earthy but always smoky and fruity sweet. This is such a unique, almost flabby, profile for the normally razor-sharp Laphroaig and it wears it well. Laphroaig 16 Years Limited Edition is just… good.

SCORE: 4.5/5