LAPHROAIG 10 (AND 15, SORT OF)

I remember professional bull rider Ty Murray quipping, "You're never completely ready, it just becomes your turn." Granted, he was likening rodeo to 'Dancing With the Stars', but it applies here. We just dipped our toe to test the waters of peat smoked malt with Highland Park, now it's time for a cannonball off the high dive. I suggest you grow a 5 day beard before proceeding further.

Laphroaig (luh-FROYG) requires that you sneer your upper lip like Sid Vicious just to speak its name. This is the one that a bartender scotch-blocked me from ordering a few years back with a curt, "You're not ready". Perhaps I butchered its pronunciation, more likely because I probably ordered it 'on the rocks', but at the time I felt like I was being asked the second password at the Eyes Wide Shut masquerade party. Clearly I did not belong. Funny how being denied something makes you that much more intrigued. Why was I not ready?

Ultimately, he did me a favor. This incident was partly the impetus for me to start learning about the transformation of barley, yeast, and water, why it could be so dramatically different between single malts, and how I might better understand and appreciate my whisky. About a year into my nascent single malt scotch journey, I summoned enough gumption to pluck a Laphroaig 10 off the shelf. All I really knew about it was that it's "the most richly flavoured of all whiskys", the favorite scotch of Prince Charles (who'da thunk it?), it has its own rabid fan club - Friends of Laphroaig, and it has a notorious odor. Still not sure I was ready, it just became my turn.

Cracking open the bottle, I was literally knocked back by its signature medicinal aroma even before pouring any into a glass. Laphroaig has its own malting floor, and supposedly leaves in more of the barley husks during the 7 day mash; it helps to absorb extra phenol flavor from the peat smoke. Mission accomplished. My favorite description of this phenomenon so far has to be "burning hospital". I know it's just the aromatic phenols, but it reminds me of the formaldehyde stench of dissected cadavers. Thanks to its intense aroma, Laphroaig was legally permitted to export to the United States during Prohibition as a "medicinal spirit", certainly helping its popularity. I considered adding water to both dilute it a bit, but that would release even more aromas; I was concerned it might cause a chloroform effect and I would collapse in a heap.

There's more. Once you've gotten over the sensory overload of that initial whiff, draw in another big noseful. Do you remember the 2011 Great Dismal Swamp fire that could be seen from space? That was a peat fire. Nothing like the woody aroma picked up from freshly charred oak barrels, this one brings the funk. There's a legitimate musk, like the otter enclosure at the Richmond Metro Zoo. Digging deeper still... black licorice. A little sweet, but mostly that sharp anise aroma. Put it all together and you have a truly room clearing smell. Do NOT drink this on a date, I cannot stress this enough! Still wanna take a sip? Damn straight.

The color is deceptively light, reminiscent of apple juice. A wolf in sheep's clothing. A salty marine flavor struck me first, one that a sushi fan will recognize - seaweed. Rich in smoke. The saltiness fades and more spices and herbal flavors start popping: pepper, tarragon, vanilla bean. The phenols are still kicking like a mule, 'notes of band-aid' would be understating it. The dry, warming finish hints of the sherry oak and salt, and the peat goes on and on until you brush your teeth.

I should mention I was tasting the standard 43% ABV expression, where Laphroaig also makes a cask strength variety of the 10, as well as a 'Quarter-Cask' bottling, ramping up the richness of flavor by giving the spirit more direct contact with the oak cask. Sounds like it would be a street fight on your palate, but overkill is the reason you drink peat bombs like Laphroaig in the first place.

Although I felt a sense of accomplishment upon breaking the peat barrier, I will admit I did not enjoy my first dram of Laphroaig 10. Far from it. Then a funny thing happened. I took the bottle to a friend's house the next weekend and tried it again, employing the buddy system. Maybe because I drink more when I have a partner in crime, maybe the initial shock of my previous attempt helped ease me into submission, but by the end of the evening I was completely enamored with it (also drunk).

It's hard not to feel like a real Scotsman when you're drinking Laphroaig. Throw on your vintage Rangers FC jersey, set the iPod to Arab Strap, and go hike up the wee bonnie crag next to Loch Lothian (yes, that's actually the name of the duck pond at Midlothian Mines Park). Once you learn to muster through the funk, it becomes a whole experience, more so than any scotch I've tried before or since.

This is the essence of an 'acquired taste'. I don't remember my first encounters with raw oysters, blue cheese, or Tom Waits, but I'm sure each was less than euphoric. Gradually, these things become favorites. Scotch is absolutely an acquired taste, but once that first peat bomb explodes on your palate, you will be reminded how just how much more there is to learn. Your first experience with Laphroaig 10 will be a bare knuckle punch in the face, but one that will ultimately make you want to learn to box.

Overall Grade: 91/100, A-

P.S. I should mention I was given 95% of a full bottle of Laphroaig 15 by someone who was convinced it was contaminated (and potentially poisonous) and could not smell it without gagging. I had planned on doing a separate post about this older version, but it turns out the 15 has been discontinued and replaced with 18 year old expression, so there's not much point in reviewing it.

I will say however, that this was the first chance I have had to go 'vertical' (tasting a single malt at increasingly older age statements) with an Islay malt. The phenol aroma and peat smoke flavor had in fact been tamed to a manageable degree, and although by taking the edge off is counterintuitive to drinking Laphroaig, I found the older whisky to be far more complex and rich than the 10. It will be missed.


Overall Grade: 94/100, A

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