Today we will taste a Laphraoig: the Quater Cask.
To do this I join a friend (whom I will call Jeckel for anonymity), Friend Of Laphroaig as your servant. Two beautiful glasses are filled with this magnificent golden amber liquid. That's it, thoughts start to move towards the tufts of callune dried by the August sun in the bogs of Islay.
Only one desire: to plunge his nose into the glass to fly to the Queen of the Hebrides. Be careful, however, with the aggression of 48° of alcohol. But the journey begins. Our first nose is directly in front of the chimney fire of old Mc Loephlean's house where a block of dried peat burns. Jeckel and I feel like we're eating a square of chocolate. But very quickly a window slams and we are blown by the wind blowing on the south coast of Islay, which is full of iodine and salt but also of an orange base coming from the tail of the gulfstream.
The first impression therefore already shows the strength of the 7 months of ageing in 50 litres where the liquid could well have soaked up the scents of the barrel and warns us: beware we will have taste and old Mc Loephlean awaits us.
Let's go ahead: the first sip shows us the balance of this whisky but also reminds us that it first masks its strength to better show it to us. Very quickly the senses fly away, bringing the fruit flavours to the coffee. But the old Mac looks at us with his satisfied look on his face! He just put a tire in the peat fire. The mouth is full of smoke and the peaty taste clouds the puck. He reminds us that not everyone comes out of such an experience unscathed. Fortunately, he quickly removes the tire from the fire and throws a handful of spices into it to lighten our load and refresh our mouth.
I come to my senses and notice that Jeckel looks at me with an impatient look and says wait, it's not over! What's not finished? Barely time to finish my sentence and I can smell the scents of wood but also of marine freshness that come back into my mouth and fill my nose like a big grain that has just appeared from behind the pier of the distillery! Splatsh in your face! The shock is severe and we take a little time to come to our senses. But what a great experience that makes you want to come back.
The quater cask versions of Laphroaig allow you to taste a quality whisky for a fair price and delight peat lovers.