Laphroaig is the first whisky I ever drank, a Laphroaig 10 to be precise, thanks to my father who thought it was necessary to teach his daughter to drink whisky. Now many years later, whisky has become an indispensable part of my life, it has become a passion.
A lot has changed in all those years, especially with regard to my taste of whisky. I am no longer the peathead like I used to be and although the Islay whiskies have made room for whisky from other regions, it hasn’t completely disappeared from my cupboard. Because to this day, I can still appreciate a good peated Islay dram and if that happens to be a beautiful Laphroaig, then I’m really happy.
And not entirely coincidentally, today is such a day. 🙂 Because I thought this Williamson 2010 (named after Bessie Williamson), from The Whisky Jury, was definitely worth trying. Not only because this is a Laphroaig, but also because I had heard many good stories about The Whisky Jury. This Belgian Indie bottler has only just started but is quickly making a name for itself. So far he has only released 8 bottles, including 3 Ben Nevis bottlings from the mid-90s and a 35-year-old Caol Ila, but also some younger single malts such as this Williamson and also a Ledaig 2010, to name a few examples. A nice mix of young and old, and I like that. Especially since all of his bottles seem to receive very good scores. So let’s see what this Laphroaig will bring.
This Williamson has matured in a refill barrel and is bottled at 53.1% ABV.
Williamson 2010 tasting notes:
Nose: a lovely layer of peat. Ash. Vanilla and a hint of biscuits. Bandages. Red apples and lemons in the background. Seaweed. A hint of a salty vegetal broth and iodine.
Taste: oh nice. Peat again. Vanilla too. A smouldering bonfire. Seaweed. A medicinal note, iodine. It’s a bit briny and somewhat herbal.
Finish: long with mostly peat and vanilla.
Ok, so there is also a sister cask of this, which did score even higher. But I really think this a great Laphroaig. It has all the typical LP notes, that got me into whisky in the first place. It’s pretty straight forward, but I like it! Definitely a bottler I’m going to keep an eye on.
