I've been putting this one off ...
It's hard to know where to begin. When I first bought a bottle of Laphroaig in the early 90's, it seemed miraculous -- compared not only to all whisky, but compared to everything else at all. The sheer intensity of it -- and of the 10yr in particular -- and the distinctness of the flavors set it apart from anything else I had tried. Not that there was much to try back then -- it was hard to find anything apart from Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, maybe Macallan. But Laphroaig stood out as a school for whisky by itself, and indeed, for other flavors, too, for things I wouldn't have tried otherwise.
It was accessible, too. I didn't have any money then, but I could afford a bottle. I think it was about $25 for the 10yr. What's more, they seemed to be grateful for the business: there was a while when bottles came with a coupon for a free rugby shirt (and a square foot of Islay), which was mailed back from Scotland. I was sort of disbelieving and embarassed to fill out the coupon, but I did it anyway:
More recently it's been harder to love Laphroaig. In part, this is just the way of things, but I've had sips from maybe half a dozen bottles recently and they all, somehow, disappoint. The smoke is still there, but the intensity and the distinctive coastal elements -- that seaweedy medicine -- isn't really there. It's become a little blander, a little gristlier maybe, and a whole lot sweeter. There's a lot of Maker's Mark in there now, and lot less Kildalton peat. (I did have a bottle that reminded me of Basil Hayden, too -- I thought I noticed that Jim Beam sour milk taste and rye spice behind the smoke.)
I think it's not too hard to find bottles from the 90's still around, but I'd feel foolish trying to hold on to my past that way. But I do still wonder whether I'm just imagining the marked decline of Laphroaig, or if it's real. The best I can do, then is to compare a current bottle with a mini that I have left over from the 90's. I just have one left, somehow, from a ziploc bag that I bought about 20 years ago. (I can say it wasn't stored very well.) 67 Wine and Spirits in NYC was selling, at one point, 15 minis in plastic bag for slightly less than a full bottle. So I bought a bag. Here's the last mini:
So, here I go:
Laphroaig 10yr from the 1990's:
More color than I remember. More sweetness and less smoke, too -- I think this has changed in the bottle. It's salty peaches with a smokiness that moves from smoldering leaves to a tarry, oceanic wet wool. Menthol and seaweed, too, along with spring flowers. But peaches and honey and a little mint are stronger than the smoke, amazingly enough. Palate is oilier than sweet. The peat is still sharp and turns a little ashy. The fruit is still thick and rich and the coastal notes are still there. Nice long mentholated finish. Not that intense, but there's lots of peaches and cream, and a little iodine.
score: 90
Laphroaig 10yrs, +/- 2014:
Intensely smoky, like someone threw a box of band-aids on top of a campfire. That's the main thing, along with a little camphor and burnt rubber and an intense but fairly generic vanilla sweetness. There might be a little fruit in there. No seaweed or iodine that I can tell -- it's still medicinal, though, with sugar to make it go down easier, I guess. Palate feels very, very light -- smoke on the water. The peat becomes a little ashy, which is nice, I think. Lots and lots of fructose-like sweetness. The finish becomes almost sickly sweet (not really, but compared to what I expect), but lots of little coastal notes -- like iodine and seaweed and seashells -- start to come out. They're overwhelmed by the sugar, though: most of the appeal here is in the room-filling bandaids-on-a-campfire nose.
score: 84
Well, I don't think I learned anything here about the past or the present, except that I can't drink whisky in 1994 any more, and that it wouldn't have been so bad if I had set aside a few bottles from back then.
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