Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Review

Medicinal, briny, papery, and phenolic, with a nice dose of smoked meats and tar. Sound appealing? Why yes, to some of us Islay whisky lovers, it certainly does. Yep, it’s time for another Laphroaig review!

I thought I’d follow up last week’s review of Laphroaig Lore with a look at another member of Laphroaig’s standard range, the 10 Year Old Cask Strength. As the name clearly implies, this is a cask strength version of Laphroaig’s standard 10 year old expression. Since I’ve written about Laphroaig in plenty of other reviews, I’m going to dispense with my usual overly verbose introductions and jump right into the tasting notes. Well, almost… just a few quick words about the whisky first.

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength is aged in “seasoned oak barrels, charred before filling” (probably all, or at least mostly, ex-bourbon barrels) and bottled in numbered (and somewhat limited) batches. Although each batch may vary a bit, the batches I’ve tried have been quite consistent in flavor profile. The bottle I’m reviewing is Batch 008, which was bottled in April 2016.

If you’ve never had a taste of Laphroaig or any other heavily peated Islay single malt whisky, then you should know that this whisky is going to punch you in the mouth when you first try it. Heavily peated malt bottled at a fairly young age at cask strength is not for the faint of heart. Yep, it’s a punch in the mouth, but a gloriously tasty punch in the mouth. If you’re new to peat smoke, then it may take a few tries to get warmed up to this (or any other heavily peated) whisky, but once you do, it’s a rewarding experience. Once your palate is accustomed to peat, all of the other flavor notes begin to emerge in harmony with that peaty punch. (Then again, all of us peat lovers might simply be some sort of whisky masochists.)

OK, sheesh, even my shorter introductions tend to get carried away. When it comes to talking about whisky, sometimes I just can’t help myself. Anyhow, let’s get on to the notes!

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Review (Batch 008)

Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Islay
ABV: 59.9%
Non chill-filtered

Nose

Medicinal and phenolic peat smoke. The burnt remnants of a dental office. Warm printed paper, fresh from a copy machine. Sawdust and pencil shavings. Citrus, mainly lemon, but also some orange. Leather. Ash. Mint. Vanilla. Seaweed. Cinnamon bark.

Palate

Crisp peat smoke—medicinal and phenolic, but not quite as much so as the nose. Vanilla. Mint. Oak. Toasted butterscotch. Seaweed and briny tang. Smoked meats. A touch of tar. Somewhat fruity, with the orange and lemon from the nose, as well as apricot and melon. Tiramisu. Traces of bourbon. Cocoa. A bit hot when neat… a drop or two of water tames the palate rather remarkably. Thick and creamy mouthfeel.

Finish

Fairly long. Phenolic and medicinal, but less smokey. Brine. Light fruits. Lemongrass. Almond scones. Unsweet vanilla. Mint. Cinnamon. Bittersweet, in a good way.

Overall

This is the regular Laphroaig 10 year old turned up to 11. Laphroaig in the raw—a medicinal, phenolic, seaweed-drenched beast of a single malt whisky. In other words, it’s pretty damn good.

As much as I enjoy a good wine wood influenced Laphroaig (such as Lore), the distillery’s house style seems to do best when aged in ex-bourbon wood. The vanilla and caramel notes imparted from American oak that once housed bourbon really accentuate Laphroaig’s particular brand of peat smoke and phenols.

SCORE: 89/100

Final Thoughts

I’ve owned and consumed bottles of batches 005 through 008 of Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength and have been impressed with how consistent the batches have been. I have to confess that I did prefer batch 005 to 006-008, but not by a whole lot. I’ve taken tasting notes on all the batches I’ve tried, and they all look remarkably similar to the notes in this review. Here’s to hoping that Laphroaig can continue it’s run of consistency.

Buy Again? Yes. The cask strength version is significantly better than the regular Laphroaig 10 year old and worth the more premium cost (usually around $30 more than the regular 10 year). I almost always have a bottle in my home bar.

Drink This Not That: If you’re looking for a big, phenolic slap in the face, drink this. If you’re looking for a quintessential Islay peat monster, drink this. If those things don’t sound appealing to you, well you should still try this Laphroaig, but maybe sample it before buying a bottle.

Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.

For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.

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