Bunnahabhain 30 1989 / 2020 “Kinship” Hunter Laing 45.5% vs Laphroaig 24 1990 / 2014 Hunter Laing #HL14111 51.9%
Bunnahabhain 30 1989 / 2020 “Kinship” Hunter Laing 45.5%
A subtle nose but a charming one. Quiet seaside and lapping waves. sun warmed sand and salty rocks, driftwood and fine ambergris. It’s a cottage by the sea, and pancakes drizzled with honey and apricots. But within is a craftman’s table of various natural waxes and resins, with chamomile tea. Worn copper and soot abound. Invisible smoke and a gentle peat which was not readily apparent on the nose becomes evident on the tongue, along with some dry clods of earth, and a real ginseng rootiness. The result is a herbaceous sort of medicine. If we stopped here we would be at 91, and it does not want for complexity, but unfortunately a floralcy reminiscent of potpourri and old lilies emerges. With great regret: 88 pts
Laphroaig 24 1990 / 2014 Hunter Laing #HL14111 51.9%
Right. This will be short. Pristine coast. Clean salt, sparkling seawater, white smoke and a dry, rooty peat burnt fiercely somewhere in-land. Did I mention salt? Lemon-eucalyptus pastilles and just a touch of iodine and malt. If you’ve had an early 90s Laphroaig before this is exactly what you would expect, only rounded down and softened perhaps by time, even so it delivers. Quintessentially coastal. 91 pts
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