It's medication time...
13. Laphroaig (Quarter Cask, 48%)
The 10yo signature malt would obviously have been a better starter for 10 when getting to know Islay's most famous dram, but I just discovered the dregs of a bottle of Quarter Cask that's been sitting in my kitchen cupboard for probably about five or six years. Laphroaig has earned what seems to be a worldwide reputation for being the epitome of peaty, medicinal, iodine-fuelled madness - which is quite odd, given some of the mind-bending stuff that comes out of Bowmore or Ardbeg or Caol Isla, or pretty much any other distillery on Islay. But such is life and we won't hold that against the mighty Laphroaig. [Aside: every time I get a sniff of Laphroaig it reminds me of Nurse Ratched feeding McMurphy his pills in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as the loudspeaker announces "it's medication time!"]
I always had a bit of a soft spot for Laphroaig, although this virtual tour is gradually stripping me of that notion. The more familiar I get with Scotland's single malts, the more I find that Laphroaig is indeed a very big, bold, blunt and unsophisticated thumper of a whisky which requires an increasingly specific set of circumstances to come together for me to fancy one.
Established in 1815, Laphroaig Distillery is celebrating its bicentenary this year, which is pretty astonishing. It describes itself as "the world's most richly flavoured whisky", which is up for debate, but the salty battering the distillery gets from the sea undoubtedly contributes to the unique character of all Islay's offerings.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
The Quarter Cask takes its inspiration from the much smaller casks that used to be common in the Scotch whisky industry in the 19th century, mostly to make it easier to transport them. As time went by, economics and improved infrastructure dictated that larger barrels became the norm but, according to some, that transition resulted in a loss of flavour. Smaller oak barrels, you see, mean that the spirit spends much more time in contact with the wood - up to 60% according to Laphroaig.
So the Quarter Cask was brought back to life to create this unique malt, bottled at a chunky 48%. All this creative distilling and marketing does a good job of taking your mind off the fact that there is no age statement, but what's it like?
On the nose it's just as intense as you'd expect with overwhelming waves of peat and salty sea and woodsmoke and, yes, well, iodine. Just ball-bootingly, heart-racingly, fuck-me insanity in a glass.
In the mouth it's the tiniest notch less explosive than anticipated, but still takes your socks clean off with a smack in the teeth of peat and smoke and salt, very slightly honey sweet, but more and more mouth-drying the longer you hold it there. No idea what to make of it or what the point of it is.
The finish stings your gums, desiccates your palate and strips your tonsils till they're screaming in submission. Even after the windiest and wettest and wildest walk up the hill, I can still see this thing being just too much. Off the scale over the topness.
2/5
The 10yo signature malt would obviously have been a better starter for 10 when getting to know Islay's most famous dram, but I just discovered the dregs of a bottle of Quarter Cask that's been sitting in my kitchen cupboard for probably about five or six years. Laphroaig has earned what seems to be a worldwide reputation for being the epitome of peaty, medicinal, iodine-fuelled madness - which is quite odd, given some of the mind-bending stuff that comes out of Bowmore or Ardbeg or Caol Isla, or pretty much any other distillery on Islay. But such is life and we won't hold that against the mighty Laphroaig. [Aside: every time I get a sniff of Laphroaig it reminds me of Nurse Ratched feeding McMurphy his pills in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as the loudspeaker announces "it's medication time!"]I always had a bit of a soft spot for Laphroaig, although this virtual tour is gradually stripping me of that notion. The more familiar I get with Scotland's single malts, the more I find that Laphroaig is indeed a very big, bold, blunt and unsophisticated thumper of a whisky which requires an increasingly specific set of circumstances to come together for me to fancy one.
Established in 1815, Laphroaig Distillery is celebrating its bicentenary this year, which is pretty astonishing. It describes itself as "the world's most richly flavoured whisky", which is up for debate, but the salty battering the distillery gets from the sea undoubtedly contributes to the unique character of all Islay's offerings.
Tasting notes, after a fashion:
The Quarter Cask takes its inspiration from the much smaller casks that used to be common in the Scotch whisky industry in the 19th century, mostly to make it easier to transport them. As time went by, economics and improved infrastructure dictated that larger barrels became the norm but, according to some, that transition resulted in a loss of flavour. Smaller oak barrels, you see, mean that the spirit spends much more time in contact with the wood - up to 60% according to Laphroaig.
So the Quarter Cask was brought back to life to create this unique malt, bottled at a chunky 48%. All this creative distilling and marketing does a good job of taking your mind off the fact that there is no age statement, but what's it like?
On the nose it's just as intense as you'd expect with overwhelming waves of peat and salty sea and woodsmoke and, yes, well, iodine. Just ball-bootingly, heart-racingly, fuck-me insanity in a glass.
In the mouth it's the tiniest notch less explosive than anticipated, but still takes your socks clean off with a smack in the teeth of peat and smoke and salt, very slightly honey sweet, but more and more mouth-drying the longer you hold it there. No idea what to make of it or what the point of it is.
The finish stings your gums, desiccates your palate and strips your tonsils till they're screaming in submission. Even after the windiest and wettest and wildest walk up the hill, I can still see this thing being just too much. Off the scale over the topness.
2/5
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