Laphroaig 30 (Early 2000's Bottling) Review [London has Fallen]

Hi everyone,

This is one I’ve been excited to share with you all.

This whisky. This is one I’ve had on my ‘life’ wishlist since I can remember. It’s one of those truly legendary whiskies that you hope to one day taste and doubt you ever will. And possibly It’s gonna cost you a lot of money to try it.

Luckily for me, it was one of the dream drams at The Whisky Show and even more luckily, I was working there and managed to blag my way into trying a sample. Many, many, infinite thanks to the guy on the stand who was working for Bowmore and Malts of Distinction.

You made my day, sir!

 

Laphroaig 30 (Early 2000’s 75cl Bottling) 43%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L. Mega complex, Sherry is so well integrated, medicinal, slight rancid rotting seaweed (which is so so amazing), rancio notes with old liqueurs, old oils and old tobacco. Keeps evolving and opening up to be even better! The best nose on any whisky I’ve ever tried.

Taste: Soft, hugely balanced, almost lacking power, but not quite. Sherry then medicinal, that rotting seaweed note again, but not quite as epic here, sea salt, red grape and raisin. The Sherry is a tiny bit rubbery but I’m nit-picking.

Finish: Medium length. The raisin then amazing 70% dark chocolate and tobacco.

Ah, so so good but the taste and finish have a little rubbery quality from the Sherry and the finish could be longer. Minor points in the grand scheme of things but it holds it back from being truly exceptional (Maybe my first 93?).

90/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #480

Whisky Network Review #548

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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