Laphroaig 16, 35cl, 43% abv.

This travel retail, half size bottle was part of Laphroiag's 200th Anniversary releases which also include the 15, 21 (half bottle), 32, and 2015 Cairdeas.

Nose: strong peat, smoked cedar wood chips (the ones used to add aroma to bbqs in the US), smoke, little bit of vinegar and salt.

Palate: intense, sweet on the mid and back palate, not a lot of peat, I'm getting many elements that resemble items my family and I used to add to our charcoal bbqs liked smoked wood chips, scented lighter fluid, or some special scented stones. Later on I can sense the salt on the back palate.

Finish: medium, smoked wood aromas, esophagus is warm. Later it gets salty.

This one was much sweeter than I typically remembered, perhaps because it's a newly owned bottle? Still thoroughly enjoyable and amazingly delicious! Definitely somewhere in between the old 10 and old 18, and I think better than the 15s I've had. Interestingly, I don't remember froggies being so salt obvious. I admit this is a biased review... but I'll be conservative this time.

Grade: B+

Whiskyfun.com, Serge Valentin, sgp:545, 82 points
Whiskynotes, Ruben Luyten, 84/100

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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