Carn Mor Williamson 8 Year Old Whisky Review!

An affordable 8-year old unnamed Laphroaig from Carn Mor's "Strictly Limited" range of small batch independent bottlings. Probably one of the cheapest ways to taste a spirit-led & natural Laphroaig!

Williamson is the most common "trade name" for anonymous independent bottlings of Laphroaig, much like Kildalton is for Ardbeg, or Staoisha is for peated Bunnahabhain. These trade names are used by independent bottlers and blenders where the cask owner/seller/broker does not have the rights to name the distillery on the bottle, so they use a widely-known pseudonym instead. This is a step above independent bottlings that can only name the region that the distillery is located in, like the countless anonymous Speyside and Islay single malts that are out there at the moment, which can be a bargain but are often something of a gamble. Generally speaking these labelling issues do not correspond to the quality of whisky that is inside the bottle, which like all independent bottlings - and official bottlings for that matter - can vary wildly. Find a bottler that you trust with a particular distillery, look up reviews, or ask the question on social media, and the odds will be more in your favour. These anonymous bottlings can sometimes be cheaper than they would have been otherwise since they're cheaper for the cask buyer, although that's obviously not necessarily passed on to the customer. The answers to many of these mysteries are usually a quick google away, while some are left as mysteries - which can make for fun and very challenging guessing games. 

Prolific Islay distillery Laphroaig needs no introduction on these pages, but it's not an easy task to find an official bottling that is naturally presented, i.e. no added e150 artificial colouring and no chill filtration. It's even harder to find an official bottling that has been matured in refill ex-bourbon casks, which are generally the best representation of a distillery's character. Laphroaig's official bottlings tend to lean heavily on casks and are often dosed with caramel colouring - despite the green glass used in the majority of cases - while the flagship 10-year old, the old 15-year old, and the entry-level Select / Select Oak / Oak Select bottlings are also chill filtered. The higher strength official bottlings are very enjoyable of course, Quarter Cask and PX Cask for example, but even those do not allow the spirit character to show itself fully - both are finished in small 125-litre ex-bourbon casks and the latter in additionally finished in PX sherry casks, which is a lot of wood influence, even for a spirit as robust as Laphroaig. As is often the case this is where the independent bottlers step in to save the day, finding a gap in the official line-up and giving the whisky geeks what we want. While examples labelled as Laphroaig are certainly becoming harder to find as the distillery owners reduce their supply of casks to external customers - as is the case with all Islay distilleries - there are still plenty around for the time being. Many of these are at significant ages that are a fraction of the price of an equivalent official bottling - Belgian bottler The Whisky Jury comes to mind here. Why is Laphroaig bottled under the trade name "Williamson" then? That would be a nod to a surprisingly progressive piece of Laphroaig's history! Ms. Bessie Williamson, former distillery manager and owner of Laphroaig Distillery, was one of very few female distillery owners in the history of the Scotch whisky industry. 

The "Williamson" Laphroaig that we're looking at here is from Scottish independent bottlers Carn Mor, the independent bottling arm of Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, the company formerly known as Morrison Bowmore Distillers which once owned Bowmore, Glen Garioch and Auchentoshan before selling all three to Suntory in 1994. Morrison is also responsible for the Mac-Talla brand of anonymous single malts and the Old Perth blended malt, and the company built its own distillery, Aberargie Distillery, in 2017 in the town of the same name south-east of Perth (Scotland). Carn Mor's "Strictly Limited" bottlings are mostly small batches / vattings of 3-5 casks, generally bottled at 47.5% ABV but occasionally at cask strength, and are non-chill filtered and natural colour. The name Carn Mor means "Great Peak" in Gaelic, named after a mountain in the Western Highlands. This particular Carn Mor Williamson / Laphroaig is an 8-year old that was distilled in 2013 and was matured in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads (250-litre casks). It was bottled in 2021 at 47.5% ABV, with a yield of 780 bottles - so four or five hogsheads vatted together. RRP here in Australia is a reasonable $175 AUD, although it and the rest of the Carn Mor range can occasionally be found at sharply discounted prices from online retailers. This one is still available in Australia at the time of writing. Happy hunting!

Carn Mor Williamson (Laphroaig) 8-Year Old, 47.5%. Islay, Scotland.

Distilled 2013, matured in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads, bottled 2021. Non-chill filtered, natural colour, 780 bottles. 

Colour: Very pale gold, white wine. 

Nose: Fatty & greasy, sweet & peaty. Fatty smoked bacon, damp fresh-cut grass, black & green peppercorns. Touch of melted salted butter, fresh herbs - dill & tarragon. Some de-seeded fresh jalapenos (most of the spice & heat removed). 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Silky, quite peaty, spirit sweetness. No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Sweet peaty entry, building to bitter & dry, almost acrid peatiness. Coke bottle / cola cube lollies. More fatty & greasy smoked bacon, melted salted butter, oily smoked fish with fresh herbs. Fizzy lemonade, burnt toast, root ginger. 

Finish: Long length. Chunky bitter peat, acrid & pungent running all the way through. Burnt toast, a little aniseed, powdered ginger. Touch of lemon juice & olive brine to finish. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Lovely spirit-driven, "clean" Laphroaig without any heavy cask influence or saccharine sweetness getting in the way. And there's no obvious signs of immaturity here, thanks to that punchy peatiness filling in the voids. Fantastic "breakfast whisky", provided you're in to this style of course. That'd be the SMWS name for this one too; "Scandinavian Breakfast Dram". That pungent, acrid peatiness never fades away in this dram, balancing that lovely malty sweet spirit without the huge vanilla & artificial wood sugar notes found in most of the official bottlings. There's no need for that sort of thing with this lovely peaty spirit! Just put it in refill bourbon casks and let it sing, like most of the good independent bottlers do. This youthful & punchy Laphroaig is in the same camp as Port Askaig 8-year old (a.k.a Caol Ila), Lagavulin 8-year old, and maybe Kilchoman Machir Bay with less cask influence. Some may draw parallels to Ardbeg Wee Beastie as well, but to my tastes this is far more mature and eminently more drinkable. Unfortunately it's nearly double the price of all those named above, which is a shame, and that's going to make it a hard sell. Probably why it's still readily available I suppose, that and the relatively obscure bottler, and the trade name. Still, for fans of Laphroaig this is an easy win. 

Cheers!