I haven’t reviewed a Laphroaig in a while (this 21 yo bourbon cask, back in February). I was hoping to set that right this month with a review of the 2025 Cairdeas, but I haven’t yet come across it in Minnesota. That’s not to say it’s not here; I’ve not looked very hard: just on a few stores’ websites. If any of my local readers have a line on where it’s available, please let me know. In the meantime, here’s a review of another bourbon cask Laphroaig. Like February’s 21 yo, this is also an indie release from a while ago—from The Whisky Agency—but it’s a bit younger at 17 years of age. It’s also from a slightly smaller cask: a barrel to the 21 yo’s refill hogshead. I do prefer hogsheads and refill hogsheads in particular to the smaller barrels, as they have less oak contact—and in the case of the refill casks, that contact is with less active oak. But I’ve had some very nice bourbon barrel Laphroaig before (this 19 yo, for example) and so have no reason to think that this one will be anything but good. Let’s see if my positivity will be rewarded.
Laphroaig 17, 1995 (53.9%; bourbon barrel; The Whisky Agency; from my own bottle)
Nose: Dettol and gauze bandages off the top: a proper medicinal peat wallop. Lemon in there as well along with some briny sea air. More salt in subsequent sniffs. Gets sweeter here too with time. Water pushes back the coastal notes and emphasizes the sweetness.
Palate: Comes in mostly as promised by the nose—maybe a little bit sweeter, definitely with some cracked black pepper. Quite approachable at full strength; rich texture. More vanilla in the sweetness as it sits (courtesy the closer oak contact) even as the phenols expand; more barrel char too now. Here water actually dials back the oak influence and emphasizes the citrus and the salt.
Finish: Long. The phenolic smoke and the pepper hang out for a while; some tar emerges at the very end. As on the palate with time and water.
Comments: A very good and quite quintessential bourbon cask Laphroaig to begin with; but by the end that bourbon cask has a little too much influence. Which is to say, there’s too much vanilla and oak char. Water fixes some of that but it still stops well short of complexity. I’ll be interested to see how it develops as the bottle stays open.
Rating: 87 points.