Category Archives: 90 Points

Laphroaig 30yo (43%, OB, Circa 2006)

Time for a nice old Laphroaig. The last one being so young, let’s do an oldie (but goldie).

Color: Copper

Nose: Sweet clay with seaweed. Old distinguished peat. Sourness from the oak. Gravy. Old wood. Bonfire and smoke. Grilled sausage. Cold bonfire remnants. (the day after). Distant freshness and sweetness.

Taste: Sweet, slightly warming. mouth-watering and chewy peat. Black and white powder, but not as salty. This has great balance. Late fruit (peach). Although there is peach on the palate it doesn’t have it on the nose. And last but not least, there is wood here, some added spice to complement the rest.

Laphroaig is just great. Just look at a part of their series and compare the 10yo at cask strength, the 15yo and the 30yo. Just beware the oxidation. Don’t keep this bottle open for too long. It will get weaker and ruin the balance, and that would be a shame…

Points: 90

Glen Ord 25yo (58.3%, OB, 2004)

Now a Special Release from Diageo. After the Rare Malts releases, came three annual releases. The first was a 28yo in 2003. The 25yo was the second in 2004, and was followed by a 30yo in 2005. As I’m writing this I don’t have a clue what to score this. The bottle is almost half empty (or half full?) and I have no clue yet. I remember the night vividly when I opened the bottle at a tasting of ‘The Genietschap‘ and we all didn’t like it that much. It was very closed and hard to score. After a while I tried it again and really loved it! It was full bodied and so very full of life. Never a dull moment with this one. It’s not that closed now, but still is hard to score (or is it?). I’ve never encountered a whisky that was so dependent on the mood of the taster. Well let’s see how I’m feeling today.

Color: Full Gold with a hint of copper.

Nose: Farmy ánd elegant, wow, how’s that possible? Sherried and dusty. Hey, again a hint of lemon grass, but this is no Balvenie! Now some clay and cream. The clay merges with some old furniture wood, let’s say mahogany. Well there you have it: Clay (farmy), and a mahogany cabinet (elegance). Well this nose is fabulous. I adore this. I can only hope this nose is in balance with an equally great taste.

Taste: Hot and spicy. Nutty. The wood comes through in a sour way (that’s “old” oak). This definitively needs water. Now it gives way to the sweetness, honey, not sugar. The nutty part reveals itself as being almond. Do I detect some paint? (don’t be alarmed). Wood is still here and gives just the right amount of bitterness. I don’t like bitter finishes, but this is something different. A 25yo whisky should have a woody part, for it’s balance and the balance is great here. Yes I feel good, better than James Brown! This shure is a great Ord. Nice half-sweet amber in combination with the wood makes for a great finish. This time it’s in top form. Gave this a lot of time to develop and you’ll be rewarded. It needs a lot of air and the whisky will benefit a lot from oxidation.

Can you imagine this was dumped on the market in 2010/2011 for almost half price? The package is great. Nice box with an even better decanter bottle. Feel’s nice in the hand.

To finish off, here is a link to Whiskybase, where you can find another take on this whisky by my “mate” alectron.

Points: 90

Lagavulin 12yo ‘Special Release’ (56.4%, OB, 2007)

And now for something completely different: Lagavulin. Well, we all know Lagavulin is pretty great. It’s virtually impossible to find a bad expression. So big thumbs up to the people at Lagavulin! A long time ago there was a 12yo already. Cream label, pretty good. After that they made a pretty fantastic 16yo, which was great, had a little lapse some years ago (but still good). Luckily, more recent bottlings are doing well again. Still, in 2002 the people at Diageo thought is was time to revive the 12yo as a ‘Special Release’ at cask strength this time. A release that is up ’till now, annual. Let’s try one, shall we.

Color: White Wine

Nose: At first, peat obviously, then a bit sour. Kippers, diesel and salty like the Pibroch at sea. Gravy combined with tar (from the ship’s hull), smoked fish (from the galley). This needs some air, and we’re not in a hurry. It’s rough but not unrefined, and doesn’t taste young. It smells like a whisky for an upper class fisherman.

Taste: It’s sweet, and has the obvious peat, but warm peat this time. It has a dirty edge to it, animalesque is the word that comes to mind, but does this word exist, or is it already the whisky talking? Now some ash and sweat, well it’s hard work on a boat like this. After some time it’s still sweet and some ‘black & white powder’. This is a taste that resembles liquorice (if you’re not from Holland or Finland)

Well isn’t this great stuff again! If you look at prices asked for this kind of whisky, well you’ll have trouble finding something better for your money. This should be a standard on your whisky lectern. Assuming you like whiskies from Islay that is.

Sells for 65 Euro’s

Points: 90