Excuse me, did I say oxidation? I was mistaken, the process of oxidation does not occur to whisky in a bottle. Now hear me out, that doesn’t mean the liquid doesn’t change, it just means that oxidation specifically doesn’t occur. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that is characterised by a molecule/individual atoms/ions losing one or more of its electrons to another molecule/individual atoms/ions. Basically, something that loses electrons is oxidized and something that gains electrons is reduced. That seems counterintuitive because why would something that acquires matter be labelled “reduced”? It has to do with the fact that an electron has a negative electric charge. The more electrons you have, the more “negative” or “reduced” the overall charge on the molecule becomes. In the mouth: Still thin and almost watery but much less hot than the first pours from the bottle. Salty, ashy, and medicinal are still the dominant flavours but there is certainly a much stronger sour lemon-lime flavour that has come out over time. The seaweed flavour is also much less raw and vegetal, more salty and “cooked” if that makes sense. Colour: Moderate E150a caramel. Come on Laphroaig! You should follow in the footsteps of Bruichladdich, Ardbeg, and Bunnahabhain. Natural colour is a matter of pride in your product. Whiskybase B.V. is the Dutch private limited liability company, having its statutory seat in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and its office at Zwaanshals 530, 3035 KS Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Whiskybase B.V. is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under no. 52072819.

If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Laphroaig is no stranger to whisky lovers, especially peat heads. It’s practically a shelf-staple these days and is enjoying a surge in popularity. While much of the distillery’s range consists of NAS expressions and questionable wood finishes, occasionally it shows flashes of the old brilliance it once possessed. Today the focus will be on both of the aforementioned standard offerings, but with a twist: tasting notes from the early pours of the bottle compared to tasting notes from a year later when the bottle was less than ¼ full. What does a little oxidation do to Laphroaig? You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account. Oak. Fruit. Grandparents' musty apartments. Soft impact that is very sensual and easy at the higher-than-normal abv%. Toffee and stubbed cigarettes. Nutty cheesiness. Slow arrival of a huge peaty impact and a cloud of smoke. Smoky finish with biscuity chewiness hanging around. That being said, the 10 was much improved of the two, despite the fact that the quarter cask started strong. Upon first opening the 10 year-old I was worried that it would sit on my shelf for years untouched, but it ended becoming decently average as the headspace grew. The quarter cask became a broken and pale imitation of what it once was after roughly the halfway mark. I wonder if there was any difference in filtration technique or cuts of the distillate taken for each of these expressions that might account for these results. In any case, it appears Laphroaig 10 is the best value if you want some longevity from you scotch. Then again, this could all be moot as these results are specific to my palate and could also be specific to these respective batches.Well, the 10 year-old certainly handled the bottle airing out far better than the quarter cask did. It’s interesting to note that the quarter cask claims to be non-chill filtered, but it fared so much worse over time. Even the addition of water did not result in a large or noticeable degree of cloudiness from oil separation in either dram. I would wager that a significant degree of room temperature barrier filtration was applied to both of these whiskies and they suffer for it. The mouthfeel and oiliness just isn’t up to par.

I remember this being quite disappointing, especially after how good the 80s/90s/early 00s versions were. Score: 3/10 Anyone who’s taken a peek at my cellar would guess Laphroaig is my favourite distillery. I have more bottles from them than from any other whisky producer at the moment. The 10 and the Quarter Cask have been mainstays on my shelf for a many years, but there is no denying that the distillery profile has undergone significant changes. There used to be a much stronger, sweeter, and richer fruit component to the tastes, and the peat smoke wasn’t so acrid and ashtray-like. SUMMARY: An absolute treat to drink. Full-on and not for every mood, but hearty as a good stew. A sweeter, softer, friendlier Laphroaig that still manages to fill every corner of the house of your senses with the medicinal peatiness in ways that only Laphroaig can. And should. And does. On the nose: Wood ashes, tobacco ashes, burned leather, extremely faint caramel. Faint iodine and medical notes. The more I poured from this bottle, the less I found myself reaching for it the next time I wanted a peated scotch. It was a struggle to finish and, near the end, just used the final spoonfuls to deglaze some grilled pineapple. Score: 2/10 Conclusions

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On the nose: Far less ashy than the initial pours. In fact, it’s smells much more like actual smoke now. The earthy peatiness is present and the citrus scents are a touch stronger. Less of a lemon pledge, more of a grilled lemon albeit one that has been left on the grill for far too long. An old, wet piece of seaweed and a slight perfume-y note have evolved as well. I think there might be the smell of a fresh cigar in there as well, but that could very well just be my imagination. On the nose: Not smoky so much as it is ashy. Almost unbearably so, and I would consider myself a peat head. My maternal grandmother used to own a hair salon, and one of the old chairs with that bowl-shaped hair drying apparatus on it was once stored in our basement. Being from the 1960s, it naturally had an ashtray in the armrest. That’s what this whisky smells like: metallic ashtray. With time the iodine, band-aid, salt, and brine notes come out but there’s precious little fruitiness or sweetness here. There’s a little charred wood scent as well. In my last review, it was noted that a comparison of tasting notes for Laphroaig 10 and Laphroaig Quarter Cask had been in the works before my laptop gave out after exactly 11 years of service, literally to the day, and taking my work with it. At last, the time has come to finally redo that piece. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”). Unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise, your use of and membership to the Service are exclusively governed by Dutch law. We shall first try to settle any dispute over a dram of whisky. Disputes that cannot be settled over multiple drams of whisky shall be solely submitted to the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise.