Whisky Review: Adelphi Limited Laphroaig 1996 20 Years Old

Style: Complex and Robust

Nose:

Robust maritime notes carrying vibrant, young tropical fruits into the picture. Dry mineral spice marching in with iodine. Sea breeze, peat and smoked mackerel with green tropical fruits served on the side. A thick base-layer of tar emerges. The sweetness slowly transcends to a even sweeter stewed fruits tone as we approach closer to the core. The aroma might come off as a bit raw, but it offers nice density, sweetness and smokiness.

Palate:

Tropical fruits immersed into smoky water. A clean touch of green mangoes, followed by pineapples, passion fruit syrup, and fisherman’s friend open up beautifully. Powerful barbeque/ charcoal smoke through and through. Fried sesame and dried Konbu. Hints of Sencha tea leaves mixing with barley, herbal licorice and maritime peat to finish.

Finish:

Earthy tropical fruits with more energetic peat smoke lurking around. Finishes with black liquorice and dried medicinal herbs.

Thoughts:

As powerful and direct as a Laphroaig can be these days, sometimes you are offered to enjoy the complexity of the spirit like this dram. Especially when there is a lack of dominant force driving the direction of the whisky, the beta elements in this cask join hands and weave delicate and intricate layers among themselves. Not a “loud” Laphroaig, but there’s so much to explore you can spend a long, quiet night with it, very nice.

[Recommended]

[57.1%・Independent Bottling・Single Cask・Cask Strength・Non Coloured・Non Chill Filtered・1 of 484 Bottles・Cask Number: 6581 • *]

-Esmond