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Ouch! It is that time of the year again, Summer is just ending, leaves start falling form trees, shorter days, more cold days, back to work after a great holidays… buuuut at least as each year we have a Laphroaig LIVE event.

This year event will take place in Islay, September 24th at 20:00 (UK Time).
Previous shows have brought you the flavours of Spain, Germany, America and even Australia but this year will be tasting 4 very special expressions.

The one off’ Laphroaig 15 YO – The official 200th Expression, Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015, Laphroaig 21 YO – Created for the Friends of Laphroaigs 21st Birthday and a unique Laphroaig 32 YO 100% sherry matured- A very rare, special expression.

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Back to tasting at full speed… today it is turn for an Old Pulteney. I really never enjoyed much their whiskies and when Jim Murray named Old Pulteney 21 years old the best whisky in the world I was slightly disappointed when I tasted it.

“Not my kind of whisky... but it has a taste that remind me of a smoky & salty Balvenie 12 years old. Interesting”

87

Released in 2013 to coincide with their sponsoring of a yacht in the Clipper Round the World Race, Old Pulteney Navigator was created to reflect the distillery's rich maritime heritage. It is matured in ex American bourbon and ex Spanish Sherry casks and bottled at 46%.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (86): more than average. honey, citrus, wood, spices, cinnamon, salt, smoke.

Palate (88): powerful, oily. honey, wood, vanilla, spices, toffee, cinnamon, smoke, salt.

Finish (88): longer than average. honey, wood, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Old Pulteney Navigator Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 87 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Master of Malt for £41.44
• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £41.55

Miguel says…

So with this Navigator I have the same feeling. It is a good whisky but it doesn’t hit the key with me… I am not particularly fond of peated sherried whiskies, except if it is a Laphroaig…

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Perhaps the most sought after edition of the Feis Ile whiskies ( if you ignore Ardbeg )… I just hope it keeps as it is right now below the collectors’ radar.

“Wonderful Laphroaig... I should have buy more bottles of this”

91

This year's Cairdeas release ("Cairdeas", pronounced 'car-chase', means 'friendship' in Gaelic) was matured in bourbon barrels and Amontillado hogsheads.
Created by Laphroaig Master Distiller John Campbell, it's bottled at 51.4% abv.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, wood, spices, cinnamon, apples.

Palate (91): powerful, oily. honey, peat, earth, citrus, fruits, spices, pepper, cinnamon, salt, iodine.

Finish (91): longer than average. peat, honey, salt.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Laphroaig Cairdeas 2014 Edition with 91 points over 100.

If last year FOL whisky was fantastic this year is really there too. A quite good whisky and still priced for people that actually drink the stuff! Thanks Laphroaig!

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I was drinking fantastic whiskies bottled by Signatory for The Whisky Exchange with Tim Forbes on the Whisky Show when I saw on the side of the eye a glimpse of a strange Laphroaig bottle that I have never seen before…

Come on! You all know I love peat, what would you have done? I dropped my Caol Ila 29yo in the the bucked and moved to have a try of that under-the-table Laphroaig.

“It is a complex Laphroaig much in the league of Triplewood”

89

Translated as Big Ocean, this unique expression is a celebration of the art of Laphroaig, with only the best batches hand selected by Laphroaig's distillery manager for their exceptional flavour. All have been matured in first-fill-only ex-American white oak bourbon barrels in their warehouse right next to the Atlantic. This whisky is then re-casked and left to sleep in the European oak until bottled.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (89): more than average. peat, wood, spices, honey, cloves, citrus.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. peat, wood, liquorice, spices, vanilla.

Finish (88): longer than average. peat, honey, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Laphroaig an Cuan Mor with 89 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on The Whisky Exchange for £65.45
• Buy on Master of Malt for £80.56

Miguel says…

As far as I know the Laphroaig Triplewood was a success and any step taken in that direction has been a good thing for the distillery… so I think it was natural for them to keep pushing. I personally prefer their younger simpler expressions like Quarter Cask or the 10yo Cask strength releases ( now NAS ).

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There are three mythical distilleries on the south of Islay: Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin. I don’t know if it is the terroir, the water, the air, the peat, but their whiskies are among the heaviest peated drams on the world and they are deliciously great. And best thing of all is that you can afford them.

Another post for the Fucking thief. Stealing other persons’ whisky so you can know about it. Is this your photo? Write me to fthief@awardrobeofwhisky.com and I will pay you… homage… and share with A Wardrobe of Whisky’s readers your experience on the tasting. Slainte!

Enough wording. I am anxious to taste this…

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It is again that time of the year. Whisky Festivals pop like mushrooms on the wild and here it is coolest of them: Laphroaig Live.
This year Laphroaig Live will take place at New York ( C’mon man! Come back to Jerez! ) at Thursday 26th September, 8PM ( New York Time ) or Friday, 27th at 1am if you happen to live at London. A bit late for a dram but who can let our Laphroaig friends to drink alone on the city that never sleeps…

The venue for the evening is an original Hudson River Barge which, at over 99 years old, has seen cargo come and go into New York for almost a century. While the barge was taking its cargo into port, Ian Hunter – the last family owner of Laphroaig – was introducing the world to the now famous whisky. Legend has it he even introduced it to the USA during Prohibition by convincing authorities of its “medicinal” purposes! ( Amen for this man! *cought* *cought*)

As usual on every Laphroaig Live, an expert panel of guests will explore part of the history and the drams of Laphroaig and this time its links with America. ( Did you said Maker’s Mark? )

They’ll look first to the fastest growing Laphroaig expression, Quarter Cask, matured in barrels similar to those used in the early days of the distillery. To contrast this, the panellists will sample the latest expression, Laphroaig QA, which uses the American style of maturation. They will compare it to the classic American bourbon from sister distillery, Maker’s 46. The final expression will be the remarkable Cairdeas 2013, bottled for the Friends of Laphroaig. This unique expression used Port Wood for part of its maturation, resulting in an extraordinary taste and colour.

I have tasted two of them so let me give you my two cents.

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Argh! Isn’t Spain lovely? Sun, beach, siesta and 35ºC every day of the summer. I am so desperate I will even drink a Johnnie Walker on the rocks. Man! I need a break. So there I was at my favorite summer spot, on the shadows, under a huge ceiling fan when the whisky fairy ringed the door…

My bottle of Laphroaig Cairdeas arrived home and well, as I happen to have several samples of this year Feis Ile 2013 thanks to the chaps of Master of Malt ( thanks to them and to £50 I spent on the samples ) I decided it was time for a proper healthy peat tasting to combat this awful heat wave.

In case you don’t know, Feis Ile is Islay’s annual festival of Malt and Music. Islay has a long and ancient history of Gaelic music and the last week in May was a time when both island musicians and indeed Gaelic folk musicians from the mainland would gather on the island to play and sing at Ceilidh’s, the Gaelic word for Gatherings. But not all it music, all of the eight Islay Whisky Distilleries join the celebration in what is probably the most famous whisky event in the World calendar.

So let’s see some of the whiskies I have taste. Let’s stay from the south and move up.

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Yay! Lots of interesting stuff this month! Finally grabbed my bottle of Ardbog and completed The Macallan 1824 Collection range of bottles. Also got a old Longmorn 15 years old and the new Talisker Port Ruighe that I plan tasting really soon. Also just I have just got a bottle of Laphroaig QA and a Glenfiddich Age of Discovery Madeira Cask.

So mysterious Alpha was that I forgot the mention it. Not sure that it is worth £100 but a really nice whisky.

What have you got lately? Any interesting dram that you have missed?

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When visiting London for TWE Whisky Show, I meet Chris Maybin, Comercial director of Compass Box. Chris gave me a sample of the new Compass Box Flaming Heart 4^thbatch to taste it at home.

Well, finally I arranged a free evening for tasting it when I saw @WhiskyLassie asking how it compared against Compass Box Peat Monster. Also I have a pending task of tasting the old recipe of Peat Monster with Laphroaig and Ardmore against the new recipe using Caol Ila, Ledaig and Ardmore.

A great tasting was starting to appear before me.

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This post continue from TWE Whisky Show [Part 3]

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2012 took place at October 6th and 7th and although it has been a great experience it has been a short one. With over 450 whiskies to taste and just barely six hours ahead it was impossible to taste them all.

What I couldn’t taste

This post is just a set of photos of what I couldn’t taste. Sorry, people… I can write about this because I get sad… so great stuff that I had to skip… *sniff*

I visited Compass Box stand for saying hi to Chris and I take a few photos with the people on the show.

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