Laphroaig 25 Years is a vatting, a fusion – a blend if you will – of two seperate expressions of Laphroaig. One expression being a Laphroaig that spent 25 years in ex-bourbon barrels and another expression that spent 25 years in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Two related whiskies living seperate lives – yet destined to become one.
In Laphroaig’s Words: Laphroaig 25 Years
“Laphroaig 25 Year Old is the perfect marriage of sherried, oaky flavours from the European Oloroso Sherry Casks and the creamy, smooth, sweet flavours from the ex-American Bourbon Barrels. The Oloroso Sherry Casks and ex-American Bourbon Barrels were filled with newly distilled Laphroaig spirit from day one. Bottled at Cask Strength, it is a perfect fusion of these two most different styles of maturation flavours, made even smoother by the 25 years it has had gently maturing.”
There’s a lot of flowery written stuff above, but what does it all mean? Let’s find out in the Laphroaig 25 Years review below.
Laphroaig 25 Years Info
Region: Islay, Scotland
Distiller: Laphroaig
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: ex-Bourbon & ex-Oloroso
Age: 25 Years
ABV: 48.6%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Batch: 2016
Price: $500*
Laphroaig 25 Years Review
EYE
Tarnished gold
NOSE
Smoked meat, banana cupcakes, peat, cinnamon, dried dark fruit, saline, vanilla beans and light bits of pears, iodine, burnt plastic and “oil”. It’s lighter than I would have imagined and water didn’t do much to it.
PALATE
Peat, burnt plastic, cinnamon, dried orchard fruit, dried dark fruit, vanilla beans, sweet tobacco, iodine and a touch of minerality and “oil”. Again, it’s lighter than I would have imagined and water doesn’t do much to enhance it.
FINISH
Long meaty fade of peat, malty sweetness, iodine, burnt plastic and “oil”.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, full round body and an oily heavy feel.
OVERALL
Laphroaig 25 Years is a good whisky, but it didn’t have the oomph I was expecting and I didn’t get much of the Oloroso coming through. Still, as you might imagine, it was a good whisky. Both the aroma and palate had an overall character I could best describe as a campfire in an orchard. It was sweet and smoky with this oily nature that flowed from nose to finish.
That oily nature in the Laphroaig 25 Years isn’t quite like a straight up cooking oil or anything like that. It would be more like if you took a bunch of blackberries, raspberries, lingonberry berries, etc. and blended them together with some olive oil to make a dark fruit oil. There’s a light touch of that throughout the whisky and I enjoyed the way it played out through the senses. A unique aspect I’ve only found in this 25 year.
SCORE: 88/100 (B+)
*Disclosure: This sample of Laphroaig 25 Years was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.