Laphroaig 30 yo 1966/1996 Signatory #560 48.7% vs Laphroaig 31 yo 1966/1997 Signatory #1094 49.3% vs Laphroaig 28 yo 1967/1996 Signatory #2201 50.2% vs Laphroaig 28 yo 1967/1995 Signatory #2205 50.3%
It’s my 40th birthday and I’m forced to have a stay at home party. Fortunately, I am amply stocked.
Laphroaig 30 yo 1966 / 1996 Signatory #560 48.7%
Myriad little nuances, all superbly balanced and glinting of the sea, hot workshops, and an earthy oily peat that is not mightily but deeply phenolic. Unsettling depth. Can your nose peer into an abyss? Oil slick on hot sand, turbulent muddy seawater, hot machines covered in crusted soot and engine oil, piles of coal, old salt and mollusc crusted wooden piers, seaweed tangled in coiled ropes turning ripe in the sun, dusty resins, stale lemon rind and a discarded lozenge. Ever fleeting hints of medicinal angelica and gentian based bitters. Above all, an omnipresent dry peat full of old roots and ancient earth, musty-pungent, salted and oil drenched. Perfect really, elegant yet potent. 93 pts
Laphroaig 31 yo 1966 / 1997 Signatory #1094 49.3%
It’s the same profile, with this gentle but profound peat lapped by seawater and the things that live in it. Diaphanous black smoke, engine oil, veins of coal and distant farms. Much the same way as #560 yet it is the deep earthy elements that elbows ahead of the salinity. Black smoke, acrid ashes and burnt shells, dirty sand, muddy pits, patchouli smoke, empty lubricant cans, old resins in chests, smoked celery seed, and a host of other dried herbals. Overall this one seems somewhat tighter and more closed than #560 and unfortunately lacking the clarity as well. Also unfortunate are little soapy touches weaving in and out of a nose which would otherwise belong on Olympus, which lead me to suspect a taint (it happens!). It would be unfair to reckon a score given this bottle’s reputation.
Laphroaig 28 yo 1967 / 1996 Signatory #2201 50.2%
Again, it’s just phenomenal. Elegant and unquestionably complex, and so vividly nuanced as to make one lean back and take a long moment. Tangy salinity with smears of farm, encircling peat of untold depth, engine oil and a host of sooty, oily, earthy aspects again. But this one’s play seems to be on herbal tinctures and ancient leaf extracts. Cough medication, camphor, warming mint and preserved nutmeg. And under that a glowing (but subservient) juicy fruitiness streaked with tropical hues of red and yellow. Breathtaking whisky. 94 pts
Laphroaig 28 yo 1967 / 1995 Signatory #2205 50.3%
Seems these 2 sister casks are peas in a legendary pod, gilded and lined with little miracles spun of dreams. Almost the same glorious whisky. If pressed, I would hazard at an amplified saline element and a pronounced earthy-phenolic edge that surges a further step over the fruit. But really, a meaningless distinction in the face of the triumph that is this old Laphroaig. This is all especially poignant considering this sort of Laphroaig is extinct, and there will be a day when it is all gone. 94 pts Seems these 67s were fruitier than the 66 as well.
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Sorry, I couldn’t finish the review. Been drooling on my screen too much … 😬