1998 Signatory Vintage Laphroaig 25 Year Old Symington's Choice Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

At $400 less than the official cask strength bottling, cask #10493 delivers a cracking value in venerable Islay. Out of a single bourbon barrel yielding 171 bottles it's said to be "big, bold and clean", "A bit of a poor man's Port Ellen." (whiskybase.com). Serge Valentin from whiskyfun tasted a sister cask (review below) and was surprised to find the hogshead was remarkably sherry-like. This should be similar. Only a few bottles imported. 54.3% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered.

Other reviews... Nose: Bottled was left to evolve after opening it for 2+ months. Nice & Rounded. Fresh green cardamoms, aniseed & bonfire. Dried lemon peels, bay leaves & sage. Iodine & some sea spray. Reminds me of a young Kilchoman, the nose. Fresh. Some white pepper, kafir lime, white asparagus. Palate: A good sting. Pepper. Lime. Peat. Luscious. A bit of cool mint. Honestly I tried this whisky 5-6 times and every time I feel its a bit cooler when it touches the palate. Wonderful this. Sooty, ashy, and quite farmy. Lot of freshness. A bit of poor man’s Port Ellen. Rhubarb. Rock salt. Beautiful. A proper Laphroaig bourbon cask. Heavy. Not elegant. Not sophisticated. But enjoyable Laphroaig. 88-89 should be the score but this is of the good modern Laphroaig I have tried. Some yellow fruits but not too much. Finish: Sweet peat, salty, rhubarb, rock salt and kafir lime all the way but with a stinging pepperish note. A big, bold, but clean Laphroaig. - whiskybase.com

[Sister cask #3372 tasted / notes indicative only] This one's very dark for an ex-BB malt, but as we used to say in math (and malt) class, there are more exceptions than rules. Colour: full gold with copper hues. Nose: charcoal at first, old fireplace, guns, then meats and dried fish. Beef jerky, soot, coal dust, waxed papers, cigars, Aperol Spritz (apologies), eucalyptus wood… I find it curiously thick and 'sherried' for a bourbon hogshead, but we shan't complain as this one too is 'vastly superior'. With water: this kind of nutty and salty style that's rather to be found in deep-sherried Laphroaigs. Cherry liqueur, kirschwasser… Seriously, loving this, but what happened? Mouth (neat): beautifully weird, with some 7-up, lemonade, even Schweppes, then seawater, oysters, tobacco, liquorice wood… It is certainly not your average ex-bourbon Laphroaig. With water: no, this cannot be. If this was indeed a 'simple' bourbon cask, I'll eat a whole family-size Hawaiian pizza from Domino's, but I'll need proof. Finish: long, extremely good, with black raisins and loads of smoke. Comments: am I losing my mind? Or is someone gently pulling my leg? Ex-bourbon, really? 90 points - whiskyfun.com