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Fresh, citric, peaty and smoky - straight and very drinklable - pretty good

Laphroaig Rocket Fuel: 2023.04.02. Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength - Batch 15 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/211936/laphroaig-cask-strength 88+ Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength - Batch 14 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/195979/laphroaig-cask-strength 88- Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength - Batch 13 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/189372/laphroaig-cask-strength 89- Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength - Batch 12 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/159190/laphroaig-cask-strength 89+ Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength - Batch 8 https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/82295/laphroaig-cask-strength 91+

When I received it poured from a freshly opened bottle more than 3 years ago, it seemed almost smokeless and not much in terms of taste. I had more or less the same impression recently from the first pour of the sample I received at that time. Subsequent tastings were better. All in all, slightly mixed impressions and therefore a relatively low rating.

21+ 21 20+ 21 84 the basic theme is to drink in the cool, ok, everything seems to be fine, but those emotions that were not so long ago are completely gone.

Marzipan, vanilla, hay, yellow fruits, medicinal peat, barley sugars, very nice

The difference to the previous batch 013 is striking. Not in terms of quality, since Batch 014 and Batch 013 are on par, but in terms of the type of aromas that can be found in the glass. I can't remember identifying such a fruit and ham note in a 10 CS (ex-Bourbon Casks especially) that then blends in so well and harmonizes so well with the other "classic" aromas. Edit: On Wednesday, April 20th, 2022, the first Laphroaig online tasting took place with the new Distillery Manager and successor to John Campbell, Barry MacAffer. This 10 CS was the first dram tasted and MacAffer in the course of the broadcast gave the cask composition: 69.5% 1st fill bourbon 30.5% refill bourbon

Still a nice expression, but it lacks some fruitiness compared to earlier batches.

[March, 2022] Another taste of a new Laphroaig cask strength batch. Until batch 012 they all were of remarkable high quality which I scored 90+points and without adding caramel colouring to it. This changed with batch 013 and it seems to continue with this batch 014 (according to the label declaration in Germany)... ...yep, it does. In older batches the dark colour was created through adding a significant number of sherry casks to the cask strength batches which lead to a flabbergasting high flavour's complexity. From batch 013 onward they changed this recipe to a (much) lower share of sherry casks - if any at all - and create the dark colour using loads of caramel instead, resulting in a rather boring profile (compared to the older batches). And they added more virgin oak-alike casks (de-charred/re-charred technique) which turn these cask strength releases' profiles very close to the rest of the modern "hit-and-run" Laphroaig editions portfolio. Good, if you love the spiked and easy-to-grasp new Laphroaig taste (which obviously a lot of people do, looking at all the high scores here at WB). But these are bad news to all who prefer the older, more sophisticated Laphroaig profile (which made Laphroaig famous, by the way). I belong to the latter connoisseurs that is why now I turn away from buying any new Laphroaig bottlings at all - the cask strength was the last out of their portfolio I really liked (up to batch 012). Sorry Laphroaig, but you lost a decade-long loyal customer...

Dark golden color. Oily structure.

https://whiskylovingpianist.wordpress.com/2022/10/13/feis-ile-2022-laphroaig/ N: Is this far off the 2022 Cairdeas? With ex-bourbon barrels credited, we’ve the typical fruity ice cream notes alongside Laphroaig’s salty meaty woodfire peatiness [a little ash] with a sweet vegetal medicinal quality, sawdust too and some grey [bog roll] cardboard. Enough. T: An acute/affronting savoury-sweet salty lemon-sour affair. The abv seems to carry it but adding water is wholly recommended for a more rounded/less cutting experience. F: Salty, citrusy and sharp/acidic with more sawdust and a little dried seaweed, concluding with light clean medicinal burned bitter lemony TCP. C: A good whisky but there’s plenty of that around.

Blind rehearsals open your eyes ;-) Long live "The Islay King 2023" Was really tasty, but would have appreciated him younger and strong drinker. And tasted a Caol Ila instead of Laphroaig.

Peat, smoke, coal, pepper, nuts, slightly burnt grilled meat, iodine, tar, bandages ... 22-22,5-22,5-22

I found so many dark berries that I even made a mistake with the type of barrel at first.

The PLV is great, but I don't think the price should be included in the rating. A really solid dram, the smoke (cold ash) dominates, with light fruit. The ashes are not mine. 2. Dram and I can smell smoked marzipan almonds. Interesting. 71-80 – Fine, like to drink by time

Blind

nose: maritime woody, medicinal, vanilla, vegetal, spicy, lemony with cooked zest a concentrate of all this mixed stuffy: quite singular with sweet caramel, almond bitterness, fortunately the peat levels it all out a bit we are between the bottom of a boat's hold filled with fish and wooden fish boxes and the alley of a barn with wet hay, finally used the caramel, yes there is and not only for the color, gives a sweet return, on the burnt juices of a barbecue, the vegetal side on dried and sweet seaweed, yes an amazing mix mixes with candied orange fruits final: medium to long but monolithic on the zan, candied seaweed, oily peat, peppery spices, on burnt and toasted caramel.

- a top-quality malt from Islay - better than Batch 13 (by a good 2 points) - very intense, very aromatic, best even without water to enjoy - For the actual price of around €70, it's fantastic value for money; even €100 would be perfectly acceptable.

In terms of its basic character, it's exactly my thing, but I lack the balance and complexity to give it a top rating. Rather simple, daily dram. Notes from a blind tasting. I had already thought that it was a Laphi 10 CS, but that is a rather weak batch. Not good in balance, too straightforward, not delicate and complex enough. It's a shame, but the fantastic batches of single-digit numbers probably won't come back. This is still a great malt with an excellent price/performance ratio, but no longer an exceptional malt. Addendum To briefly address the tiresome caramel debate: No, the 10 CS has never contained sherry casks, no, I can't find any indication of coloring on the bottle, no, caramel (E150a) is not caramel and therefore not sweet either is completely tasteless and therefore, even if it were added, would have no influence on the taste of the whisky.

Pretty ok for a Laphie CS, but i's mainly smacking you around on it's high abv. Clearly lacks complexity compared to earlier batches. I still like it, but I'm glad purchasing this at an in my book maximum justifiable price point of €80.

Delicious drink with extremely well integrated alcohol. This batch pleases with sweetness, saltiness and (for Laphroaig) subtle smokiness. The finish is long and harmonious. I can't quite understand the hysteria among some here over the use of dye (even if it's not nice): you wouldn't notice it blindly... Doesn't it depend on taste?

Nails. We chew scrap metal, in the middle of car wrecks. And now the peat is rising. It's a tidal wave that carries us away. And instead of drowning, we find ourselves in the cool, on the beach, lulled by a gentle sea breeze and iodized. Dried fruits, prunes, apricots, banana. Dirty and charcoal peat. Soot, motor oil, diesel oil. Shards of rusty metal. Saline net. Light medicinal touch. Mouth very saline at first, then fruity, juicy pear, finally the spices rise, pepper, nutmeg and ginger. Ether, drug solution. Fairly long finish and still very medicinal, earthy, smoky, bandages, mercurochrome, chlorine, disinfectant. In the end it turns into salt crystals, sea water, enamel, wet sand. Shaving cream. It's nice to get back to basics. It's been too long since I got lost in the recent Sherry bottlings, I had forgotten what a Laphie aged in a good old Bourbon cask was like. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2022/02/laphroaig-10-yo-cask-strength-batch-014.html

Blindly suggested Fortress: barrel, possibly single cask Barrels: bourbon Distillery or Release: Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Age: 10 23 24 22 22

SIGNIFICANTLY better than Charge 13. Just my two cents though...

A great batch. Significantly more fruity than Batch #11 and #12. The smoke is more elegant, less phenolic, less iodine and ashy. This batch also feels significantly oilier on the palate.

Very tasty and varied. Beautiful bourbon barrel maturation with a lot of smoke and a lot of smoked ham.

Strong smoke and really nice and salty-sweet. Shows what the distillery can do.

Small comparison tasting Laphroaig 10 CS 1. Batch 014 2. Batch 010 3. Batch 017

Actually, I wanted to open this bottle on Father's Day and compete against Batch 11. Because someone asked me if I could send a sample of this, I opened the bottle today and poured myself a dram from Batch 11 as well. I don't know if I could have seen such a big difference between these two batches six months ago. This is a decent whisky and still worth the money at today's prices. I don't find a wow effect here, but I like the dram.

In 1 test session Batch 3, Batch 14 and Batch 17. All three whiskies have the same clear yellow/gold color. With all three whiskies, a considerable amount of whisky lingers on the glass. Thick waves, but also thick, slowly dripping tears. Do you like smoky whiskies and have never tried the 10 cs? DO IT! If it's too strong, you can always reduce the ABV to your desired strength. They are three completely different whiskies. I've seen batch 17 mentioned several times as having an old-school profile, and I certainly can't confirm this compared to batch 3. Everything you expect to get from the aroma of batch 14 is precisely what you don't get. The aroma is quite subdued, while the taste and finish are truly intense!

Laphroaig is certainly the outstanding Islay whisky. At some point you have to decide whether to stick with Glenfiddich or go a step further. That is Laphroaig, rough and smoky. And of course you feel great and daring because the gauze aroma always reminds you of musty hospitals. That's all nonsense, of course. After drinking a lot of whiskies you learn that the 40% Laphroaig is nothing more than a smooth, colored and chill-filtered product for the supermarket. The Cask Strength can perhaps reawaken the old fascination. After all, it is cask strength, so you don't have to chill filter it. But then the shock - the Lurke is colored! Despicable, which is why it is justified to despise the whisky companies. glen-efze.de