Laphroaig Cairdeas 200th Anniversary - Review
Age: 11 years, 9 months (barreled in August 2003, released in May 2015)
Barrel type: Ex-Maker's Mark bourbon barrels, first-fill
Region: Islay
ABV: 51.5%
Price: $80
Additional details: non-chill filtered, natural color
In many ways, this is a special scotch. To begin with, the Cairdeas line (which means "friendship" in Gaelic) is the distillery's annual special release, first offered to the distillery fan club called the Friends of Laphroaig and then released more widely to the public. Laphroaig created this particular expression as one of several limited editions to celebrate the distillery's 200th anniversary in 2015, along with a stellar 15-year old scotch that I'll review on this blog later.
This Laphroaig also is special because it is the purest rendition of the distillery's product. The majority of Laphroaig's malt comes from Port Ellen, like other Islay distilleries, but the distillery does malt a smaller proportion of its own barley (and is one of a handful of distilleries in Scotland that continues to do so). This scotch comes from 100% of Laphroaig's own floor-malted barley. In addition, Laphroaig distilled the barley in its small stills and then aged this scotch in its oldest warehouse, No. 1, which is closest to the sea and located on Islay itself (several of the larger Islay distilleries actually age most of their product on the mainland, due to the paucity of space on the island). To be honest, these differences are not perceptible to me and probably will not improve the experience for 99.9% of palates. Nonetheless, it's cool to know that we probably will never experience a purer expression of Laphroaig's distillery character than is in this dram.
One last fun fact -- for a few years, the Cairdeas releases have calibrated their ABV to their release year. You'll notice that this scotch is 51.5%, a seemingly random number, and that it was released in 2015. As you can guess, the 2014 was 51.4%, and the 2016 was 51.6%. Laphroaig finally broke the streak this year because of fan demand for a cask strength release of their popular Quarter Cask variant. I hope to find a bottle of that soon!
Appearance: The presentation of the Cairdeas line is not over the top, but it's spot on. Cairdeas scotches come in the same classic, utilitarian Laphroaig shape and cylindrical cannister, although they're accompanied by an attractive folded brochure that gives a little color about the distillery and this year's special edition. Poured into a glencairn, this Cairdeas is the pale yellow of faded parchment, no surprise since this scotch isn't finished in anything but ex-bourbon barrels.
Nose: The extra ABV makes for a powerful experience, but a surprisingly restrained one. The extra aging has balanced out some of the harsher notes of Laphroaig 10, transforming it from James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause to Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. It's masculine and substantial, but with the edges of its wild youth rounded off into the confidence that comes in one's prime. The classic Laphroaig notes of savory peat, a bit of oats or dried cereal grain, a mellow yet rich smoke, and some seaside air intermingle in a well-integrated nose. The layer under those more pronounced scents features orange peel and peach, celery, and asphalt.
Palate: When it hits the tongue, Cairdeas 2015 has more sweetness than the nose lets on, particularly a lemon characteristic that I get in a lot of Islay scotches. That citrus character rests in balance and melds well with the smoke, which takes on a cigarillo characteristic. This scotch is pleasantly salty and briney and moderately oily. The sweetness transitions into a more medicinal quality combined with some hard candy, but it doesn't fall into overly sweet territory because of a touch of buttery oak that's more reminiscent of the Quarter Cask.
Finish: The finish is smoky, salty, and again an oat-like or cereal note peeks through. The medicinal sweetness that emerged on the palate also carries through in the aftertaste. The smoke is more pronounced in the finish than in the first two phases.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 is a more restrained take on Laphroaig, with some of the rough edges pared away and a cleaner, more minimalist profile emerging to reveal the enduring structure of Laphroaig's whisky. Some might critique it for not adding much to the traditional flavors, aside from another eight percent alcohol and about 20 or 21 months of extra time in the barrel, both of which lend it some additional firepower. In addition, the value of the floor malting and Warehouse No. 1 aging may be largely psychological. To me, most of those criticisms are beside the point. This is just a lovely scotch.
At $80, and still available in some liquor stores, I also appreciate that it's fairly priced and reasonably available. In comparison to some other distilleries, whose limited editions are in the triple digits but not aged noticeably longer, Laphroaig's Cairdeas line really feels like an attempt to connect with the distillery's fans and give them different twists on the product -- rather than just a foolproof way to make more money without incurring much more expense. Get it while you can!
Rating: A