Review #20 - Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 11

Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Batches Mini-Series: Part 1 of 3

With our next series, we'll be looking at a few different batches of Laphroaig's cask strength bottlings of their 10 year old single malt. How much variation are we going to see batch to batch? Some better and some worse, or solid consistency throughout?

Laphroaig began releasing numbered batches of their 10 CS back in 2009, and now we're 13 years and 15 batches in, with a 16th on its way soon. Not an allocated product but also not always easy to find, this is a whisky that many collectors will like seek out so they can compare the different releases over the years. From what we've heard, there is slightly variation, but the quality floor is pretty high.

Laphroaig 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 11

Scotland/Islay - Single Malt

Current Locally Available Price: USD 100 (2023)

Age Statement: 10 Years

Strength: 58.6% ABV

Details: Batch 11, bottled in March 2019

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 1 month; bottles at 90% and 80% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes

Nose: Big Laphroaig peat smoke, a blast of iodine, and the character of this one is slightly more meaty - subtle, but it's there. Burning wood, heavy on the wood smoke, and an old campfire with that grey, long-dried wood. Just hints of minerality and earth, some ash, the smoke even feels a bit brittle at times. Then, sweet lemon juice opens from the top of the glass, along with some oaky vanilla. The note that lingers most is the medicinal characteristic.

Palate: Powerful, lots of smoke, both ashy and slightly earthy - that ash is stronger than it was on the nose. Day old campfire, iodine and sea salt, and more oak tannins this time; the citrus comes back, but in addition to mildly tart lemon, we're now finding some sweet orange. It can even come across as orange soda, or a sherbet note, maybe lemon-orange candies. There is a bit of a spirit kick trailing behind the ABV, and then it's back to the wood notes: black wood char, a hint of that synthetic machine-made theatre smoke, some wood sugars, and a bit of vanilla icing. The mouthfeel here is medium-thick.

Finish: Long finish, and while the peat lingers and is plenty strong and full of ash and medicinal iodine, there are more delicate flavors of vanilla bean ice cream, orange fruit, and something just slightly savory hiding behind. Medium-dry wood notes, and a decent amount of oak on this finish, really.

Final Note: This just screams 'Laphroaig,' but in a good way - everything we love about the normal 10 year bottling, but turned up to 11. It has all of the distillery character we want, and because of the reduced dilution, you get a few extra hidden flavors that start to creep out at times. Let's not kid ourselves, though - this is some strong stuff, and the addition of water (the bottle even suggests this) will help tame it so that it can be enjoyed by a wider variety of palates.

Our Average Rating: 8.0 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.89