Laphroaig 18 Years Old old label 48% NV

Distileerderij	Laphroaig
Bottelaar	OB
Serie	Old Label
Gebotteld voor
Gedistilleerd op	Not Specified
Gebotteld	Not Specified
Land	Schotland
Streek	Islay
Leeftijd	18
Cask Type	Ex-Bourbon Casks
Vatnummer
Alcohol percentage	48
Inhoud	0,70
Conditie	In originele verpakking
Etiket	Perfect
Voorraad	0

Professionele reviews

Serge Valentin (87)

Colour: pale gold.
Nose: smoother than the HB, much more vanilled (first fill bourbon casks?) but also fruitier and rounder, with some pleasant coastal notes (sea air, iodine.) It’s also rather more medicinal than the HB, with hints of tincture of iodine, bandages and a little camphor. Oh, and whiffs of gentian. It’s still a gentle and rather shy Laphroaig so far, that is, let’s hope the palate will be bigger. (Note: opens up just a bit after… one hour! On more citrons and kumquats.)
Mouth: it IS bigger, starting on all things earthy (gentian spirit and liquorice wood – my taste), with quite a saltiness but less than in the HB. Lemon sprinkled oysters, peat, maybe a hint of coriander and even sorrel, and then a rather big oakiness – not plankish of course – that, once again, hints at some kind of new oak treatment, ‘though it’s no vanilla bomb at all. Anyway, it’s good! Faint nuttiness.
Finish: long, even more on liquorice wood. Lemon.
Comments: this is complicated. I think I liked the nose of the 15yo that this one is meant to replace a little better because of its beautiful fruity notes (if I remember well) and of its subtleness but this is bigger and more assertive on the palate indeed, even if probably a little less complex and more ‘modern’.

BOW (88)