Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength (Batch 10)

Today marks our tenth year of marriage, so after dinner, I decided to open a 10-year cask strength Batch 10 Laphroaig to celebrate. A perfect culmination of three tens! From the first smell, it was excellent. I hesitated to add water, fearing it might diminish the experience, but I did anyway. What a fantastic pour; this is how the 10-year should taste, with nearly 20% more alcohol. I haven't had the 10 in some time, but it seems quite similar. I'd relish finishing a bottle, but this is a limited release not available where I am. Notes of iodine, lovely sweet vanilla, sea salt, and smoked peat are present. It's an easy 4.25, maybe even 4.5 by the end, so incredibly rich.

Upon smelling, smoke is prominent but softer than the usual 10. The influence of the bourbon casks is more noticeable, with subtle pear notes present in the background. The taste continues with wood and smoke, followed by a dusty malt essence. The Cask Strength version reveals subtle complexities absent in the 10, particularly in the wood, malt, and fruit elements.

The aroma is intense with smoke, tar, and coffee beans, reminiscent of coffee beans in chocolate with a hint of mocha, also carrying a slight medicinal quality. The taste is delightful, revealing more depth: mocha, dark chocolate, coffee beans enveloped in dark chocolate, cedar, cedar within dark chocolate, and aniseed, aniseed in dark chocolate. There's a touch of slightly charred chocolate. The tannins are exceptionally strong again, but in a pleasing manner. The finish is quite sweet and long-lasting.

Aroma: citrus, rubber, and smoke. Taste: bursts of sweetness and smokiness, more intense than the typical Laphroaig 10. Truthfully, it reminds me a lot of Laphroaig 10, but with more intensity.

Nose presents floral hints, spice, smoke, a candy-like sweetness, cereal grains, iodine, and dried fruit. The mouthfeel delivers dried dark fruit, smoke, leather, spice, cereal sweetness, and coastal undertones. The prolonged finish sees smoked dark fruit and toffee dissipate with an earthy character.

Smoky but also sweet, with a touch of oak that intensifies with a splash of water. This is truly exceptional, and I'd be keen to try an older cask strength version. It's a shame more scotches don't offer higher proof options.