Laphroaig Quarter Cask.....Not So Sure About It

[nitehawk55]

Well this is my first venture into the land of Islay and to be honest I was not looking forward to it as I had read it would be different in what would probably be a bad way and it is , I'm not liking it much .

Very medicine like taste and I've cut it a bit with spring water and even some ice but it's way different than my H-P 12 yo .

I'll give it a few more tries but to be honest I don't think it's going to grow on me

First time posting and it was because I bought this bottle at random and was loving it. Funny how the taste buds can be so different.

[BourbonDrinker]

Well I applaud you for wanting to expand your palate. You certainly went "all in" with a bottle of Laphroaig Qtr Cask. Let it rest for a few days and go back to give it another go. I used to dislike peated whisky, now I really enjoy it. Keep it in the back of the cabinet for a cold rainy night.
Beyond the obvious peat and iodine, see what else you can dig out of there. I find it quite sweet and malty underneath, and of course I love the briney sea notes. There's a lot going on in there in the background.

[jwise]

I concur with the Etherman. I applaud your adventurous spirit, and encourage you to keep the bottle (but maybe at the back!) Go back to it in a few weeks, a few months, or perhaps a year. You might find it strangely appealing, or downright delicious! If you aren't enjoying by the end of this next year, then I guess you could just send it to me...

[nitehawk55]

Thanks fellows . I sort of got this half knowing it would not be to my liking (from reading other impressions ) as I'm not a long term seasoned Scotch drinker and have not tried an Islay Whisky till now .
Iodine and medicine taste are pretty much how it tastes to me at this point so I'll keep trying it from time to time and see if my tastebuds say different .

I don't know how you find any "sweetness" in there , the peat is there but that's about all I'm getting from it .

Good for snake bite I expect

[jwise]

Eat some aged gouda, then taste it. It has a way of brining out the fruity character of whiskies. At least, that's been my experience!

[BourbonDrinker]

Originally Posted by nitehawk55

Thanks fellows . I sort of got this half knowing it would not be to my liking (from reading other impressions ) as I'm not a long term seasoned Scotch drinker and have not tried an Islay Whisky till now .
Iodine and medicine taste are pretty much how it tastes to me at this point so I'll keep trying it from time to time and see if my tastebuds say different .

I don't know how you find any "sweetness" in there , the peat is there but that's about all I'm getting from it .

Good for snake bite I expect

Take an oz, add a few drops of water and let it rest with a cover on for 10 min or so. Than really take your time picking it apart. Once you get over the smoke and peat and spicy heat, you'll start to get more. And I'm not referring to iodine and brine.
You'll see. Try some more mild peated whisky, they don't all have the medicinal properties that turn so many off. You might like the peaty flavor when it's more integrated. How about The Balvenie 17yr Peated Cask. It's the classic Balvenie profile with a whisper of peat on the nose and palate. It's really nice.

[nitehawk55]

Thanks for the advice fellows , I'll not give up too easy .

Have not tried cheese , chocolate or others when tasting Whisky but I do like old Gouda , actually the spiced is my favourite

I did try the Laphroaig again and I let it sit for a bit with some ice (yes I know...BLASPHAMY !) I took my time with it and while the first taste was a bit harsh on the second I concentrated and tasted other flavours in it which overcame the medicine taste and to be honest I did somewhat enjoy it this go around , I actually did get some sweetness and spices . I also used my nose more this time and it found new aromas , this is something along with the tasting I really have to start learning .

I think with it being a cask strength one has to ease into it so I'll keep trying it reducing the ice and switching to just a bit less water too . I thing this will allow me to taste it better and the objectional side of it not overpower the good

I'm a Whisky novice , it's a learning experience each time I try a new Whisky
which is half the fun

[dirtysnkrs]

Big fan here of laph 10 and lagavulin 16. saw the quarter cask at scottish store up in san francisco that exclusively carries scotch whisky. what a selection!

Anyway, would try tonite but its hotter than hell for this time of year in LA and i dont have AC. For some reason, islays dont seem like the best hot weather scotch.

itchin to try it, supposed to be cooler tomorrow. will sample it and also compare side by side to the others i mentioned above, then post my reaction. cant wait!

[blenderm]

Just to clear up a misconception about the use of 1/4 casks, they allow 30% more contact with wood than barrels and this changes the maturation, IT DOESN'T SPEED IT UP, if it did everyone would be using them. What happens is that there is an infusion of wood extractives that alter the flavour into another style, which is what every single malt distillery wants. To speed up maturation you need this extraction plus oxygenation [i.e. contact with air] and there's no way that you can speed this up in 1/4 casks. I talked with a blender about 2 years ago who had run a trial to see if the speed up of maturation happens and in his words " it doesn't" and he was somewhat disappointed.

[Dale]

Blenderm hit the nail on the head about aging. The smaller cask size changes the spirit in a different way than a larger cask but by no means changes the speed with which a spirit ages. Aside from historical transport by mule and cart as was noted earlier, Laphroaig's foray with the 1/4 cask was a designed "experiment" to try and support a growing demand for Laphroaig beyond what their stocks allow to support keeping older expressions on store shelves. The hope was that they could get some of their younger spirit to drink similar to their older expressions by altering it with different wood and cask size strategies while they ramped up production to meet the shift in demand. I'm paraphrasing here but this is what John Campbell, Laphroaig's Distillery Manager, told me last November when I last got together with him.

Where they were a little disappointed with the results, there is no doubt they've created something many people enjoy. Afterall, Laphroaig makes a great spirit and pays a lot of attention to detail.

For me, the tricks with heavily peated whiskies which show loads of iodine and medicinal characters is either age or understanding and improving one's nosing skill. With age, the iodine and medicinal characters tend to be tamed and the fruitiness and floral notes more easily show through. It is one reason a Laphroaig 30 isn't as appealing to many who love Laphroaig 10 - they love the more prominent iodine and medicinal in the 10 (not to mention its $55-60 price) compared to the tamer 30 (with its $500+ price). Of course, not every distiller's spirit ages gracefully, and we all know (or should) that older isn't necessarily better. There are many distillers whose younger expressions I prefer to their older ones.

As for nosing, one of the things I strongly recommend for the avid whisky nut is a set of Glencairn glasses. They are designed for assessment of spirit, namely single malt whisky, and are one of the tools of the trade. Having a set of nosing glasses allows the taster to better compare whiskies because the aromas are similarly focused to the nose and taster's olfactory senses so comparison is more easily made than using glasses of various shape and/or wide rims.

This is easily understood by pouring a few drams of the same whisky. Take three drams of 1/4 cask, leave one dram untouched, put a few drops of distilled water in another, and an ice cube made from the same distilled water in another. Then nose, don't taste, each dram and find the differences. The reason I say distilled water and not spring is because spring water does maintain flavor compounds and minutely (though sometimes obviously) changes a whisky from its bottled form because of those compounds. Thus, what the average taster is recognizing as the difference is the water and not the spirit. Further, most taster's ice (if they drink it this way) is made from tap water (including a lot of store-bought ice) which often contains fluoride and chlorine compounds - which is totally detrimental! The most obvious thing ice does is change the temperature of the whisky; the thing to learn here is that the temperature of the whisky greatly affects its aromatics, as well as its taste.

As we have millions more olfactory senses in our noses than we have working taste receptors on our taste buds, it is easily understandable (if you work at training our nose) that we decipher more with our nose than with our palate, and that what we smell affects what our palate tastes. Try plugging your nose and tasting the 1/4 cask (keeping it plugged for a minute or so after swallowing) and I guarantee you will notice less on your palate than you do with you nose unobstructed.

One of the interesting things about nosing whisky compared to wine is that what we smell in wine is very infrequently what we taste. You might get cassis from the nose of a cabernet, but you rarely taste it. Whereas what we smell with in whisky does show on the palate. You get the iodine component on many Islay whiskies and you also taste that character.

Another important concept in nosing is habituation. We get use to major influences and after a short time our brains start to ignore them and move onto lesser influences. For example, people who keep dogs in their home get used to the smell of their dog in their house. And when their spouse is cooking a full Scottish breakfast with bangers, haggis, smoked haddock, fried tomato et al, all they notice is the glorious aroma emanating from the kitchen. If we're invited for breakfast, we'll smell the breakfast and the dog. Eventually we get used to the aromas of both and then notice their cat. Another example is how nonsmokers perceive tobacco smoke and it is not noticed by smokers. This is habituation.

So, when faced with a whisky you find has unappealing aromatic characters, continuing to nose the whisky, literally keeping you nose in the glass and smelling continually until your brain starts to ignore the major aromatic congeners in the whisky, will eventually allow you to uncover the whisky's more hidden treasures - hopefully ones you'll enjoy. With this level of olfactory training, you will get to a point where you can turn off the major congener influences quite quickly and uncover those more deeply routed influences you enjoy. The same applies to a whisky you love, if you want to uncover more about it than the major influences you find inspiring.

Finally, there are Islay whiskies without heavily peated, iodine and medicinal tones. Until recently, Bunnahabhain didn't peat their malt and any sense of peat came from their water. Additionally, their iodine and medicinal character would only come from the environment of Islay affecting their casks during maturation - but it's really nonexistent. Bunnahabhain is now producing some peated spirit, having seen the success of their neighbors. Bruichladdich has greatly toned down their use of peat to the point they will not be peating except for a few bottlings, I understand. Their plan is to relegate their peated whiskies to future Port Charlotte bottlings. For someone wanting to discover peat without the iodine and medicinal characters being dominant, try Springbank 10, Glenturret, Benriach Curiositas Peat. These range in their use of peat but all have tempered to no iodine and medicinal character. For someone who wants to experience peat, iodion and medicinal without spending $55-60 or more for an Islay, try Benromach Traditional $35. Benromach 10, about $70, tames the iodine and medicinal because it is aged 100% in first fill sherry casks - this is a great whisky and great for understanding peat and wood influence.

[dirtysnkrs]

Actually couldnt wait for the weather to cool down so had to sample the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Now have been playing with it for a week, comparing it to the 10 yr Laphroaig, as well as Lagavulin 16 and Ardbeg 10.

Have to say it has quickly become my favorite. In my (short and shallow) experience, nothing rewards a continuous swirl around the mouth like 1/4 cask Laphroaig. It has a buttery savory-ness to it that so far in my experience is incomparable. The 10 yr Laphroaig has some of this as well and is still my favorite for a "daily dram". Lagavulin 16 has its own rewarding complexities, and the Ardbeg still escapes my appreciation for some reason.

But the 1/4 cask Laphroaig keeps drawing me back. I find myself not just swirling it, but practically gargling with it. Anyone else feel this way?

[San Francisco]

Originally Posted by dirtysnkrs

Actually couldnt wait for the weather to cool down so had to sample the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Now have been playing with it for a week, comparing it to the 10 yr Laphroaig, as well as Lagavulin 16 and Ardbeg 10.

Have to say it has quickly become my favorite. In my (short and shallow) experience, nothing rewards a continuous swirl around the mouth like 1/4 cask Laphroaig. It has a buttery savory-ness to it that so far in my experience is incomparable. The 10 yr Laphroaig has some of this as well and is still my favorite for a "daily dram". Lagavulin 16 has its own rewarding complexities, and the Ardbeg still escapes my appreciation for some reason.

But the 1/4 cask Laphroaig keeps drawing me back. I find myself not just swirling it, but practically gargling with it. Anyone else feel this way?

Have you tried the Ardbeg Uigeadail? Reminded me a bit of the QC, but is better and more complex, IMO.

[Islay Peat]

Originally Posted by HP12

Well, what a coincidence, my wife has surprised me with a bottle of Laphroaig 10. Initially I was looking for cask strength but where she was had limited expressions. Although she was going to get me a Lagavulin 16 (which they didn't have), I figured this will be a good intro as I journey into Islay.

Can anyone explain the differences between Laphroaig 10, quarter cask and cask strength? Other than ABV diffs, what are the nuances between them? At some point I will likely get a bottle of cask strength and do a side-by-side taste test with the Laphr 10.

Unless there is a large difference between the 3 Laphroaig expressions, I'll plan for my next peat monster to be the Laga 16. Your thoughts? TIA!

I can't explain the differences, as I'm still fairly new to this, but I find both the Laphroaig 10 and Laphroaig Quarter Cask to be mutually necessary; close but different is the best I can say.
The Cask Strength was enjoyable enough for me, but I prefer the other two.

Originally Posted by Soundmangt4

The first time I tried Laphroaig or Lagavulin 16 I thought they were horrible and medicinal, tasting of TCP. Yet after a small period of enjoying other single malts, especially a lot of Talisker, when I returned to both whiskies they was no hint of medicine, just glorious smokey wonderfulness!
It is amazing how your taste buds and palette can change over a small period!

I too disliked the bottle of Laphroaig 10 I bought last year, but about a week into it and I was sold. Lagavulin 16 = swoon at first taste!

Originally Posted by Dale

...and the fruitiness and floral notes more easily show through. It is one reason a Laphroaig 30 isn't as appealing to many who love Laphroaig 10 - they love the more prominent iodine and medicinal in the 10 (not to mention its $55-60 price) compared to the tamer 30 (with its $500+ price). Of course, not every distiller's spirit ages gracefully, and we all know (or should) that older isn't necessarily better. There are many distillers whose younger expressions I prefer to their older ones.

For someone wanting to discover peat without the iodine and medicinal characters being dominant, try Springbank 10, Glenturret, Benriach Curiositas Peat. These range in their use of peat but all have tempered to no iodine and medicinal character. For someone who wants to experience peat, iodine and medicinal without spending $55-60 or more for an Islay, try Benromach Traditional $35. Benromach 10, about $70, tames the iodine and medicinal because it is aged 100% in first fill sherry casks - this is a great whisky and great for understanding peat and wood influence.

I was a little put off when I found that I didn't like most of the older bottlings and it seems that with few exceptions I prefer 10 year bottlings over most others, Lagavulin 16 being a standout exception.

Thanks for the suggestions you've listed above and I can't wait to try all of them!