Laphroaig Càirdeas 2023 White Port & Madeira casks - 52.3%
From the distillery
Our Càirdeas expression for 2023 brings together the best of much loved Càirdeas releases over recent years. The limited-edition single malt is a combination of Madeira and White Port casks. Three quarters of the whisky is matured in second-fill Madeira casks, releasing smoky, spicy, and sweet fruit flavours. The final quarter has been finished in first-fill Port casks; the majority of these are white port, adding a hint of crisp fruit and deep woodiness to the flavour. It’s a new take on Laphroaig that plays to our strengths – welcoming friends old and new.
Colour: Soft burnished gold.
Nose: Cinnamon, freshly ground ginger, crisp green apple with notes of toasted peaches, charred orange peel, and caramelized sugar with a whisper of bonfire embers.
Palate: Honey sweetness paired with juicy citrus characters and delicate notes of hazelnut, tannic oak, dark chocolate and slightly bitter caramel leading to earthy iodine-rich smoke.
Tasting notes:
Appearance: Burnished gold, forms a thin line which beads before breaking as slow, thin legs
Nose: Soft cooked orchard and stone fruit, blackberries and brown sugar. Gentle notes of fish cooking over a beach bonfire. When rubbed into the back of the hand more of the typical medicinal peatiness appears.
Palate: Oily, almost waxy mouthfeel. Baked Bramley apples dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar, lemon citrus, dark chocolate enrobed hazelnuts, salted caramel, beach bonfire smoke and the bite of chilli peppers. With water, more fruit appears as the heat is tamed at the expense of some of the smokiness.
Finish: Bonfire smoke lingers together with nutty, slightly bitter astringent oak and a touch of chilli heat.
Summary: It would be fair to say I wasn’t a huge fan of the 2022 Càirdeas bottling, so it’s good to see a return to a less one-dimensional dram this time round. The combination of white port and madeira casks is certainly unusual, but the notes they bring work very well together. There’s a lovely sweetness and fruitiness to the dram, which marries well with citrus and slightly bitter dark chocolate to bring keep the palate interested. Add to this the nutty oak and lingering, ashy bonfire smoke and you have a well balanced, complex and highly enjoyable whisky.
The smokiness isn’t of the typically medicinal kind you would normally associate with Laphroaig, but still makes its presence felt. For me, there’s a little too much spice at this abv but that is easily remedied by a little water, which brings the added benefits of releasing more of that Madeira cask fruitiness although the smoke is flattened a touch.
Although personally it doesn’t quite hit the heights of the 2021 Càirdeas PX cask expression it’s still a very good whisky. It’s not cheap but still comes in under the £100 mark, decent value especially when compared to many of the other Feis Ìle bottlings.
If you would like more information on this whisky, the distillery or any of the other Laphroaig whiskies, follow the link to the company website.
