Laphroaig 10 CS– original edition (red band)

Long ago, when I was making my first steps in the whisky world, I was very keen on MONSTER peat drams. The higher  the PPM, the better, or so I thought. As time went by, my palate did change, and I realised it’s the delicate aromas and Complexity is what I prefer, Peat or not peat. Mega peat is nice at time, when you need that “peat fix”. And in recent months I’ve found myself reaching to my extreme peat shelf (Octomore,Supernova, PCx, etc) less and less. But, I never ceased to love those beasts, and from time to time when I’m in the mood, I do enjoy those peated drams, Laphgroaig CS among them.

As you do know summer is upon us (and yes, I know it’s also upon many readers in the EU too), and this is not the best time to sip peated malts (and in this case heavily peated malts). But for some reason I decided to try this one again (mainly because I was given this sample by Nimrod). As it happens the guys were having an Islay night, and I was not able to participate, but gladly he saved me a dram of this one. So here I was Aircon on MAX, and temperature dropping below 20, which is the only way to even try this baby – Islay weather.

Most people will tell you a bit of water is essential to this dram, but I am not really sure this is the case. I’ve tried it with and without, and I can’t seem to like one over the other.

Laphroaig Original Cask Strength , 10 yo , 57.8% abv

Nose: Wham! a bomb of a nose with all of the beauty Islay can offer: Tarry rope, brine, lots of peat, smoke , leather , seaweed, Iodine, spent bandages. some vanilla too underneath all this lovely masculine nose.

palate: Lovely smoke and chilly: peppery hot on entry, then getting sooty, bitter and medicinal.

Finish: Very long, lots of ash, soot, peat, smoke, and leather Quite dry. and lasts forever almost.

Wonderful stuff for the peat addict. If you do not like peat, stay away! this one is definitely not for you. Thank you Nimrod!

Score: 89/100