I've lamented about the lack of Laphroaig's 10 Year Old Cask Strength in Australia previously, in my review of the epic Batch 006 & tasty Batch 009 bottlings last year, and unfortunately that situation hasn't changed, and doesn't seem likely to change in future. The only way to procure these excellent whiskies down under is to either import them yourself from the distillery when they're released (and don't hesitate for too long - luckily I was quick enough this year), or to import them yourself from European auctions, and both options mean paying the ridiculous taxes and duties that Australian customs slug us with, plus the various courier companies' extra charges. Otherwise you could wait for local re-sellers to do the same, which then means paying rather bloated prices (think $250-ish AUD), although it's still worth it for the die hard Laphroaig fan. What hurts the most is that we can easily see how much of a bargain this whisky is from the distillery, in fact I myself paid an incredible 49 pounds for a bottle of Batch 009 at the distillery shop during my pilgrimage last year, and then had a portion of the included VAT refunded at Heathrow on the way out. That is an absolute steal for a whisky at this level of quality and flavour, and I couldn't leave Islay without one. For those playing overseas that is around-about what we Australians pay for the standard 10-year old Laphroaig at 40% ABV, and as tasty and accessible as that Islay essential is, anyone who has had the pleasure will be able to tell you that the cask strength bottlings are on a completely different level. Since then the distillery's price has increased to around 60 pounds, but it's still very reasonable and offers excellent value for money.
Which brings me to my next point of lamentation. We can also easily see how much of a bargain this whisky is in the United States. Despite having to be shipped across the Atlantic, and then marked up by whichever bottle shops (sorry, liquor stores) have answered the call, it can often be found for slightly less than the aforementioned price from the shop at the distillery itself. Yes, really. I'm talking around $60 USD (plus sales tax, admittedly), which is once again an absolute steal. What's worse is that those lucky Americans seem to get a huge amount of stock of these limited release Laphroaigs which can sit on store shelves for quite some time, and that also extends to the annual Cairdeas bottlings that, for the last three years at least, have not been officially imported into Australia. Naturally they're also not imported into many other countries around the world, it's not just us Australians that miss out, and I'm not forgetting about the sheer buying power of the U.S. either. But it'd be nice if the "Laphy love" could be shared around just a little more, and I'm sure the distillery itself would feel the same way. But that's enough whingeing. I still love you Laphroaig!
The 2018 release of the mighty 10-year old Cask Strength is the tenth numbered batch, although there were a couple of unnumbered batches (known as green stripe and red stripe bottlings) prior to the appearance of Batch 001 back in 2009. Each annual bottling is unique, but they all follow a similar recipe: pure, unadulterated essence of Laphroaig, served up at natural cask strength, and without any of that chill filtration nonsense. Seeing as Batch 010 is something of a milestone, I must admit that I expected (hoped?) that the distillery would do something a little different for this one, but instead they've stayed faithful to the original idea and haven't played around with the recipe. Not that that's any bad thing of course! Batch 010 was bottled in January 2018, at 58.0% ABV. And as an extra bonus, and definitely not just because I happened to still have a sample sitting around, I'm also going to review Batch 008, the 2016 release, after putting the new guy through its paces. Both of these samples came from private sample swaps, by the way. What's interesting about this sample of Batch 008 is that it's from the US bottling, which from what I can gather was a separate bottling run just for the US market. Aside from being a 750ml bottle, it was bottled at 59.9% ABV, while the UK bottling of Batch 008 weighed in at 59.2%. I'm not sure how often that separate bottling run happens, but I haven't noticed such a variance before, so I suspect it may have been a one-off. Both versions were bottled in March 2016, so it's just the difference in ABV that tells the story. That 59.9% ABV just happens to make this the highest strength bottling of Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength to date... Shall we?
Bottled January 2018. Non-chill filtered, assumed natural colour.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Rich, slightly dry & spicy. Some heather honey, then loads of ash, some torched dried herbs and thick salted caramel, and a slight hint of dried mint. Some old dusty leather, like an old satchel bag or leather-bound books. Sweet vanilla pods, dried orange and salt-washed black volcanic rock.
Texture: Medium-heavy weight, very rich & syrupy, ashy and spicy. A slight touch of heat, but in a pleasant way.
Taste: Sweet syrupy entry, then a big burst of dry, ashy peat, a little chilli spice and blow torched herbs. Some dried orange again, but it's candied as well now, and a slight touch of licorice.
Finish: Long. More dry & ashy peat, some burning wood embers, a couple of dried chilli flakes and some salted honeycomb. Vanilla and dried orange again but that dry peat is constantly doing its thing underneath.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: Delicious stuff, of course! It's a little drier and more balanced than I remember the previous batches being, and that leathery note on the nose is very interesting. There's plenty of peat as well, because of course there is, but it seems drier than usual and it doesn't overwhelm. There's a lot more ash in this one as well, but it's very enjoyable. Such a tasty whisky, I just wish it was easier to get a hold of at a reasonable price! Both the nose, texture, taste and finish and delicious here, but I do find it a little softer than I remember the earlier batches being. 010 is probably more in line with 009 actually, but that's no criticism, not at all, it's just a point of difference. Make no mistake, this is a delicious rich whisky with plenty of character.
US bottling, UK version bottled at 59.2%. Bottled March 2016. Non-chill filtered, assumed natural colour.
Colour: Amber, but it's definitely slightly darker.
Nose: Sweeter and more intense than 010, with less vanilla, and more typical Laphroaig character. But it's also noticeably hotter and more aggressive, more so than the 1.9% difference in strength would indicate. Sea salt caramel chews, more dried candied orange and torched herbs, but also a little floral around the edges.
Texture: Medium weight, richly flavoured, but quite aggressive and hot in comparison with batch 10. Not unreasonably so for the strength and age though.
Taste: Sweet and syrupy entry again, but that carries on for considerably longer. A dry ashy peat again, but it's quickly knocked out but a big hit of chilli spice that dominates for quite some time, and turns things a little astringent when it recedes. There's a nice sweet peat underneath though.
Finish: Long, but still aggressive to start with. Muddy, earthy peat and some salted peanut brittle. Some bitter herbs now, and a flash of unsweetened licorice, then a touch of both dried orange and dried grapefruit. Some floral sweetness, a touch of sea salt, and earthy, muddy peat to finish.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: A very rich and full-flavoured dram again, but this one is a little aggressive. It's considerably hotter than Batch 010, more so than the slight difference in strength would have you believe, but it does have more of a typical Laphroaig flavour profile with extra chilli heat thrown in. There's also less vanilla here, and far less ash, but surprisingly also less peat. Although that could be down to the extra chilli spice, which is a little overwhelming and a little surprising. But it's not going to ruin anyone's day when there's so much else on offer in this whisky.
Overall notes: In all honesty I had expected to prefer Batch 008 to the latest edition, but that turned out not to be the case. Batch 006 & 007 are still my equal favourites to date, although 001 & the last of the unnumbered "red stripe" bottles that I tried at the distillery were both utterly brilliant as well. Each batch of Laphroaig's 10 Year Old Cask Strength is noticeably different, but they're all delicious, and preferences between batches are going to come down to personal taste in the end. I've never come across one that wasn't extremely tasty and very enjoyable. For sheer volume of flavour, cask strength Laphroaig 10 is hard to beat. If you're an Islay fan, you need to get your hands on one of these bottlings. Even if that means paying over & above the going rate, or helping to fill government coffers with your hard-earned currency. Whatever it takes.
Cheers!
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