I recently attended a Laphroaig tasting event at the Jack Rose Saloon here in Washington DC, which was hosted by the owners of Jack Rose and also the global Laphroaig ambassador Simon Booking. On the menu were four drams: the 25 year old, the 27 year old, a single cask 7 year old bottled by Jack Rose, and a single cask 7 year old bottled by Julio's Liquor - a massive 20,000 sq ft liquor store in Westborough, Massachusetts.
The event opened with a Burns poem, sung by Simon Booking (who has a great voice), and then we heard comments about the 25 year old. Formerly, this was a marriage of 25 year ex-bourbon and 25 year ex-sherry casks, but now they have moved to 100% ex-bourbon. This bottling appears to be a 2019 vintage based on the strength, which was 51.4% ABV. That said, there was little-to-no sherry influence here.
Let's move right into the notes:
Nose: A delicate, layered nose - old tires, ash, peat, old iodine from the back of your grandmother's medicine cabinet, lemon custard from her kitchen. Rubber and lemon the big takeaway, initially. A bit floral and a bit bready as well - like pastry crust and garden flowers, at a distance.
Mouthfeel: Oily but a little bit on the thin side.
Palate: Similar to the nose - delicate, layered. The initial hit is peat and iodine, some minerality, some ash and vanilla, and lots of rubber and lemon - but nuanced. As it develops, it gets more tropical, with pineapple and lychee (!) added in.
Finish: Surprisingly reminiscent of Bowmore (!) - violet candy and charred pineapple and finely ground white pepper and old oak. Very nice.
Verdict: Lovely stuff, but damned expensive - this runs anywhere between $600 and 800 where I am. It really is an older, mature version of the brash young 10 year - it's weird how much I liked the "old tires" note and the complex multidimensional lemon, when those notes in the young versions can be abrasive and off-putting sometimes. Recommended, but especially if you find a deal.
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