Laphroaig 40 box issues (US Bottling)

[Dogfooddog]

Hi,

I bought a case of the laphroaig 40yo US bottling when it was in retail sale. Over time (starting a couple of years ago) I have had reason take these bottles out of their case for purposes of photography, and have run into what I consider a fairly serious problem which impacts collectibility.

1) the place the neck slides into the top is very, very tight. it is so tight that I wonder if many bottles scratch/tear the foil just being put into the case when at the bottling plant.
2) the way the notch was cut for the neck in the case leaves very rough, sharp plastic. This ties into #1.
3) ALL of my bottles I cannot get out of the case without using a reasonable amount of force. This invariably leads to torn/scratched foil along the sides. This includes just straight pulling the bottle out, and rotating the base of the bottle (which was necessary for some other bottling from somewhere I don't recall).

My main theory is that the neck sizes of the 70cl and 750ml bottlings were slightly different, yet the cut size in the case was the same - I know I have seen just slightly diff. neck diameters on other bottlings (700 vs 750) from other distilleries (unfortunately I no longer have any 70cl laphroaigs). None of this excuses the production of such a beautiful case with such a singular defect. I remain puzzled that I haven't seen anything on this in other places, as it is an issue in all 6 bottles I have owned (only 5 now).

Eventually these bottles may be sold as time goes on, and this is a singular problem - the bottles are valuable, but scratched/torn foil is viewed quite poorly, especially at this price range. I would like feedback from anyone familiar with the 750ml Laphroaig 40yo ob case and bottle and whether they found something similar. If anyone is actually in a position to compare the 700ml and 750ml bottles and cases, that might be even more informative.

Anyone who could offer feedback on the issue would be appreciated. With some planning in november, if there are Miami/Palm Beach area members who might be interested in actually seeing the problem firsthand, this might be possible as well. Finally, if anyone knows of a contact at laphroaig who would actually be able to make informed comment on the issue, that could be of value as well.

Thanks,

Scott