Laphroaig 1991 23 Year Old Whisky Review!

After the recent sad news of John Campbell's decision to step down as Laphroaig's Distillery Manager, and given that he personally selected the casks used in this bottling, the time is right to review this special Laphroaig!

The legendary John Campbell is officially Laphroaig's longest-serving Distillery Manager, spending over 27-years at the distillery including 16-years at the helm, and is also the first Islay native, a.k.a. Ileach, to manage the distillery in it's 205-year history. I've been lucky enough to meet John a few times, mostly during his last visit to Australia back in late-2015 (more details and interview here), but also on his home turf during my last visit to the distillery in 2018. This softly-spoken, relaxed and humble Ileach has taken Laphroaig to new heights over that time, and has also been responsible for some truly brilliant whiskies during his tenure, particularly the Cairdeas releases and some of the other limited bottlings, including the subject of this review! But he has made the difficult decision to permanently relocate to the mainland to be closer to his family, and to take up a new role with a smaller independent distillery that is being kept under wraps until John officially steps down in November 2021. It's easy to forget just how remote Islay actually is, since the island is such a large part of the Scotch whisky world and seems like paradise to visitors, but a regular 4~5-hour commute just to visit one's own family on the mainland would get tiresome, particularly with ferries and flights being cancelled due to weather or taken out of action due to maintenance. So it's a very understandable decision, albeit a sad one. So on behalf of myself and the other peat-heads, slainte John and thanks for your hard work and the sacrifices that you've made over the years to keep our glasses full of peaty goodness. We'll all be watching this next step in your career with great interest!

Islay's most famous distillery needs no introduction of course, but older Laphroaigs tend to be very different from what you might expect. Yes the peatiness tends to recede and the whisky tends to become softer and more refined, that's to be expected with older peated whiskies. Older Laphroaigs of 21+ years of age can also take on a floral sweetness, often with more fruitiness and citrus and a brighter general character in comparison with their younger stablemates. For example, if you were to the 10-year old, or even the cask strength 10-year old, and then the 25-year old, without looking at the labels you'd be forgiven for thinking they were from completely different distilleries. But the more obvious examples of that change in character tend to be mostly from refill casks, while sherry casks, particularly when first-fill, seem to stave (pun intended) off that change, but it's also down to cask selection - the 15-year old and the Highgrove independent bottlings show that softer character at earlier ages, purely down to cask selection and presentation. Bottlings like the old 18-year old and the NAS replacement 'Lore' tend to be in the middle ground. Today's whisky will be an interesting test, since it's towards the lower end of that age scale, but mostly because it's a mix of refill hogsheads and first-fill sherry hogsheads, both of the 250-litre variety. Regardless, it's a cask strength Laphroaig. There's a very good chance that it's going to be tasty! 

On to the whisky at hand. This is a limited release 1991-vintage Laphroaig that was mainly sold to the German market when it was released back in 2014, with a substantial 5,000 numbered bottles released. Thankfully some stock found it's way to retail in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, and naturally some of those 5,000 bottles then subsequently made their way on to the secondary market. If you do manage to find a bottle on one of the usual auction sites, you'll be looking at around 400-pounds. Once the buyer's premium, shipping, duty and customs charges are taken into account, that's going to be well over $1,000 AUD here in Australia. Not a cheap proposition, and substantially higher than the 'regular' 25-year old Laphroaigs, but that's to be expected with a highly-regarded bottle on the secondary market. The timing for this release was curious too, since it could've instead been one of the 200th anniversary bottlings that hit the shelves in 2015, including the now-legendary 2015 Cairdeas and the 32-year old.  This 23-year old has been matured in a combination of first-fill ex-sherry and refill hogsheads, and was bottled at a cask strength of 52.6% ABV without chill filtration or added colouring. The sample for this review came in a swap with a generous fellow-whisky nerd, and both he and a couple of others have hinted that this is one of their favourite Laphroaigs to date, so the anticipation levels are high! Let's get to it. 

Laphroaig 1991 23-year old, 52.6%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured in ex-sherry and refill hogsheads, bottled 2014 at cask strength. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 5,000 bottles. 

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Fresh & zesty initially, peaty & coastal. Loads of fresh lemon zest, slightly herbal, damp muddy sand and wet rock. Touches of warm tar, ink and drying seaweed. Then new leather, white pepper and a little mushroom. Then sweet stewed stone fruit, vanilla bean and honey, fresh wood with a touch of ash. 

Texture: Medium weight. Peaty & peppery, sweet & rich. Slight touch of heat. 

Taste: Sweet vanilla bean, almost custard, then peppery, ashy peat, touch of tar and dried red chilli. Toffee and dried fruit behind - stone fruit with lemon juice, then leathery drying seaweed. 

Finish: Medium length. Spicy chilli flakes and peppery, ashy peat. Softens and fades quite quickly into floral vanilla bean sweetness, bitter lemon, then turning dry, peppery, woody and astringent with a little soft ashy peat in the background. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Some interesting contrasts here! This whisky does not sit still. The nose in particular is excellent, and while the palate and finish can't compete with the depth and complexity that the nose offers, it doesn't disappoint. There are hints of that softer, sweeter, floral side of Laphroaig, but the main player is the coastal peatiness and vanilla, alongside drying white pepper. A surprising amount of wood influence as well, and I'm guessing the sherry casks were American oak owing to that hefty vanilla. But then it is also 23-years old! This Laphroaig certainly seems more "modern" in character compared to the recent batches of the 25-year old and some of the older bottlings that I've tried, although few of those have first-fill casks in the mix so that's understandable. The drying peppery note in the later stages of the finish is surprising and quite different, but it doesn't dampen the experience, astringency and dryness can be enjoyable in the right dram, where there's enough character and peaty and/or sweet flavours to carry it, which is the case here. 

That said, given the prices that this 23-year old now commands on the secondary market, I'd be reaching for one of the 25-year olds instead - particularly the 2013 and 2016 batches which both show that floral, fruity, citrus-y side that older Laphroaigs are renowned for. But then, if this 23-year old were to offer the same sort of experience as the regular 25-year old batches, what would've been the point? 

Let's all wish John Campbell all the best in his new role, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him soon!

Cheers!