A friend kindly invited me to take a couple of drams of this IB Laphroaig bottled under Hunter Laing's Distiller's Art series for HNWS, a liquor store in Taiwan renowned for its whisky selection. This was a fun one.

Distillery: Laphroaig

Region: Islay

Price: ~180USD (and this was direct from the guys the IB is for...)

Cask Type: Refill sherry butt

ABV: 57.2%

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 1.2, chestnut (natural colour).

Rested for ~10 minutes, before drunk neat in a glencairn.

Nose: Cigars, underripe honeydew, watermelon rind, cucumber.

Palate: Incredibly dry. Almost as dry as a martini. Oak. Fennel, gentian, rosemary. Oddly specific note of cheese-filled Japanese arabiki sausage.

Finish: Slate, flint, cucumber, raw tea leaves, elderflower cordial.

Conclusion: A more refined, complex and subtle take on Laphroaig with considerable complexity and depth. Very clean, green herbal smoke. None of the ashiness of the 10yo OB. Not quite sure the palate is as cohesive, and that the flavours on the finish are as finely differentiated as I'd like. But a very well-executed nose. Overall a clear step above the standard 10yo OB as it should be for the price. And the dryness of it really whets the palate for more. Not much of the sherrying comes through, except probably to temper how raw and green these notes could otherwise be. Taiwanese IBs invariably are expensive due to the overheads involved, but this is for someone who wants to see how refined a Laphroaig of middling age can be.

If it were named by the SMWS: Go Gentian Into The Good Night

Score: 86

Scotch Review #38, Whiskey Network Review #40

H.Y.