Review #255: Laphroaig 18 1007 Signatory Vintage 51.2%

Islay - 18 - NCF - NCA - $250 if I had to guess - 51.2%

  
I am a self confessed Laphroaig homer.  Or at least as much as one can be with bashing Select at every opportunity.  Laphroaig puts out less and less IBs every year, which is a real shame.  This one sounds like your standard Frog offering, 18 years in ex-bourbon cask.  Teenage Laphroaig is where it tends to show its best in my experience.  There is still enough peat there to pack a punch combined with a bunch of fruit.  Let's see if this meets expectations.  

Color - Old Gold

Nose - Bandaids, iodine, smoked shellfish, tidal pools, ripe granny smith apples, peaches, green tomatoes, vanilla pods, key lime zest
Palate - Sticky toffee, fresh cut pineapple, iodine, 

Finish - Long - Pink lady apples, quickly overcome by bonfire ash, tart apples with squeezed lemon, brine, bacon, tidal pools,iodine, bandaids

Overall - 8 - This nose is just fantastic.  It is smokey, fruity and floral.  Just a dream to nose. The rest of the dram is a beautiful balance of peat and sweet.  Just fantastic.  It is big, oily and everything I want from a a frog.  This is a step up from the Cadenhead's 175th Anniversary Laphroaig 19 I bought and I gave that a 7.  So I have to give this an 8.  It is everything that a Laphroaig lover wants.  

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I really enjoyed but it will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.92

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16