Laphroaig 1989, 17 years, 50.3% abv.

Friends of Laphroaig 2007 Feis Isle bottling with an outrun of supposedly 4,000 bottles.

Nose: peat, wood smoke, coastal, sweet notes become more dominate. Adding water mellows everything.

Palate: initial taste is smooth, peaty, and sweet on the back palate and it breathes into the midpalate. Gets sweeter with time though. Salty too. Adding water mellows everything, only a stale peat is left. Reminds me of Port Ellen.

Finish: long, peat smoke. Adding water mellows everything, but accentuates the abv burn.

This is a pretty tasty dram, before adding water. I like the basics to it, the peat and smoke, slight saltiness, and the unexpected presence of sweetness that gets stronger with time. The abv creeps up though, more or less eliminating many tasting or potential tasting experiences. Had this at Club Qing, Hong Kong.

Grade: B+

Whiskyfun.com, Serge, 90 points

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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