Laphroaig 9 Year (Single Cask Nation)

 

The second of two bottles I recently picked up from the fabulous gents at Single Cask Nation. This is a 9 year Laphroaig with the final 3.5 years in a second fill PX sherry hogshead. I also picked up their intense and flavorful 8 year Laphroaig a while back, so I'm curious how this compares. 

Here is the official Single Cask Nation flav-o-meter: 

And the official tasting notes: 

NOSE: Opens on kippers (smoked haddock) sat on a 1970’s breakfast table (milky tea and buttered white toast with a cigarette burning in the ashtray), hints of cinnamon, sea salt, and bothy smoke peek around the edges

PALATE: Oily and fatty with spice and umami: white chocolate cheesecake, butter shortbread, cinnamon Red Hots, and miso soup. Cracked black pepper resides to the back of the palate and informs the finish

FINISH: Long and lasting with obvious kippers and black pepper but there’s an overall saltiness that’ll have you licking your gums

Drawn from cask 191653, with the aforementioned sherry finish, distilled November 2015 and bottled this Spring, 2025. One of 232 bottles, and the ABV is 59.0%. Let's see how it plays out: 

Nose: Funky and smoky, in turns. Lots and lots of wood smoke, alternating with smoked fish, black tea, and cigarette ash. 

With time and water, the sherry finally appears: some smoked raisins, old leather, polished wood, blue cheese, and brown sugar. 

Mouthfeel: Super-viscous. Syrupy, even. 

Palate: Incredible palate on this: white pepper, baking spices, chocolate, red berries, black tea, anchovies in olive oil, miso, salty blue cheese, and tons of peat and smoke. Really unusual, how savory it is despite the PX finish. 

With some time and water: The sherry again comes to the fore: rich Maraschino cherries, leather, brown sugar are added to the mix. So is charcoal/BBQ ash. 

Finish: Endless, like most Laphroaigs - I get cherry-filled chocolates, black pepper, cinnamon, salt water in rock pools, and wood smoke. 

Verdict: Another stunner from Laphroaig and Single Cask Nation. This is like what Ardbeg Uigeadail used to be like - a high-proof hit of sherry and giant peat slabs, all slathered in fish and smoke. 

Well, Uigeadail ain't what it was, but this Laphroaig is here to close the gap. This is brawny, powerful stuff, but also intricate and subtle. I'm a little surprised I don't get the usual "burnt tires" or "new rubber" note that I typically get in Laphroaig, nor the lemon I almost always taste. 

But the rest is rich enough and interesting enough to not care. Tea, chocolate, berries, anchovies, cheese, peat, cherry... it goes around and around and around. Worth seeking out. An absolute steal if you like sherried Islay.