Yes, I know…we’re right in the middle of a Talisker series that will still include the 18, 25 and 30 year old expressions. But Fèis Ìle is here, and I got together all of the festival bottlings from last year to taste on each distillery’s open day. This is a concept pioneered by my colleague and friend Yoav Gelbfish of the excellent Whisky Gospel blog, and I’m joining him this year in this tribute, so you can get both our tasting notes for each of the expressions on the same day.
So the actual Fèis Ìle begins tomorrow, but this year Douglas Laing bottled, for the very first time, a special festival bottling of a 2nd fill sherry butt matured Laphroaig, and it’s really good. I’ll be starting the 2015 Fèis Ìle week celebration a day early, to include the Douglas Laing Laphroaig.
2015 Douglas Laing Feis Ile Laphroaig 14
Douglas Laing Old Particular Laphroaig 14 Year Old (2001), Fèis Ìle 2015 Bottling, 2nd Fill Sherry Butt DL10694 , Yield 636 Bottles (48.4% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Gold with a slight reddish tinge coming off the sherry butt, with slow and thin legs with quite a bit of residue left on the glass.
Nose: This is a serious Laphroaig!! Lots of the signature iodine, bandages and smoldering ashes. The sherry butt influence is very mild on the nose, but adds a vanilla sweetness (possibly an American oak sherry butt), wood spices and just a whiff of sourness from the whisky.
Palate: A warm sweetness, definitely from the sherry and well beyond the peat sweetness starts off then some potent peat kicks in, with an abundance of wood spices with cinnamon, clove and a hint of nutmeg.
Linger: The finish here fools you! First you get a medium length sweetness on the tongue, leaving dryness and smoke with mild spices. Then a latent sweetness reemrges after some time, as the smoke begins to dissipate.
Conclusion
WOW, this is a classic Laph with a sweet tooth. By no means a sherry bomb, the sherry influence is absolutely brilliant in adding that extra sweetness. This really is great cask selection!
Official sample provided by Douglas Laing. Thank you very much, Jenny,
As a Laphroaig fan, I look forward to trying this one. If I can find a bottle.