Another sherried Laphroaig, half the age of the Whisky Fair bottling I reviewed two days ago. No need for any further preamble here either, except to note that this was my first ever sherried Laphroaig, and I’m not sure if at the time I even knew that most of the official Laphroaigs had no sherry aged malt in them (this was well before the Triple Wood and the PX were released).

I got it at Blue Max Liquors in Burnsville, a store in an unprepossessing mall in an unprepossessing suburb of Minneapolis, which has a killer beer and single malt selection. Thankfully, they have no online store and so we don’t have to compete with whisky geeks outside driving range for their inventory; less thankfully, their prices for whisky aren’t very good.

Laphroaig 7, 2000 (46%; Signatory UCF, refill sherry butt 3683; from a reference sample saved from my own bottle)

Nose: Mellower than the Whisky Fair 14 yo. Sweet peat here too but it’s not as pungent or phenolic. A mild citrussy, hammy note develops later, or is that bacon? Not very much more on the nose but it’s all rather pleasurable.

Palate: Soft mouthfeel. Sweet peat and ashy smoke; some bacon too. Some mild citrussy notes and some sherry sweetness. The smoke gets more expansive with time and there’s apricot now too and a richer, darker sweetness.

Finish: Long and ashy and a little bit salty.

Comments: Not the most complicated one, but very nice. More recognizable sherry influence here than in the Whisky Fair bottle but this is not appreciably sherried either–certainly not at the level of the official Triple Wood. I remember that when I first bought this I was nervous that it would be very extreme in its peatiness–back then I found the OB 10 extremely peaty as well; but I was surprised to find how much gentler this was despite being three years younger. Mind, it’s not mellow in the abstract; just compared to other young Laphroaigs. I think there may still be some bottles floating around in Minnesota. If the price hasn’t changed I might get another.

Rating: 85.