A month or so ago this “Williamson” (independent bottler alias for Laphroiag) from Asta Morris started popping up in German online stores. Seemed like a decent value proposition at €83-95, but single casks can sometimes take bad or unexpected directions, despite everything looking good on paper. Which is sometimes the reason why the distillery sold off the cask in the first place cask. Hard to know if the independent bottler bought the cask before or after maturation. But with a reputable indie bottler one assumed they only bottle stuff that lives up to a certain level of quality. Asta Morris is, at least to me, a little more obscure since they operate in Belgium/EU. I suggested this bottling might be interesting to a friend who’s a big Laphroaig fan, and almost bought a bottle myself. But remembering that I never really felt enthused by Laphroaig since after becoming serious about whisky, I stayed myself. I didn’t have a chance to “rediscover” Laphroaig when I visited the distillery in 2023 (and took the cover picture!), because I was designated driver that day.
Some weeks after the AM bottle was marketed I found a sample that I will now try, together with a Laphroaig from the 2022 Single Malts of Scotland whisky calendar.
Williamson (Laphroaig) | 12yo (2011) | 54% | Asta Morris
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Scotch single malt
sherry
undisclosed (presumably UC, NCF)
currently €95 a bottle; 5cl sample £9.75 at BWH
Sample review
⚡Experience
Mossy peat and bonfire, and a very characteristic iodine on the nose. Continues with a sweetness of caramel and sherry, and some yellow fruits such as apricot. Throw in a sprig of fresh rosemary, too. With time in the glass, rubber and sulphur (manageable levels) become more apparent. Pleasant sweetness on the palate too, along with earthy peat, sea salt and drying quinine. It’s certainly a heavily peated dram, but the palate is not at all overpowered by tar, ash, and smoke. Rather, the yellow fruits draw my attention, and I also taste honey, liquorice, and menthol, so adding up more to a “natural remedy” impression than a strong medicinal flavour.
💡Thoughts
Admittedly, I’m not a Laphroaig super fan. Sure, I like it, but generally I prefer something less… punishing. But this one I really do quite like. I won’t mourn the fact that I hesitated for too long to pick up a bottle when the best prices were available, but if I had taken a chance with it, I’d have been pretty happy to have it in my stash.
Worthwhile and Enjoyable
Laphroaig | 7yo (2014) | 61.8% | Elixir Distillers
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🪵
🔆
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Scotch single malt
cask #221
unchillfiltered & natural color
sample for whisky calendar; comparable bottling ~€95
whiskybase — seems to be the same cask number but at lower abv than my sample?
Sample review
⚡Experience
My first and strongest impression is wood workshop, and damp forest floor, wherein some dark forest berries can be spied. Then there’s yeast, sea spray and grilled seafood, and butter-fried sage. The palate is drying, has an earthy and herbaceous peat and lovely, round tobacco flavour. The finish draws towards apricot marmalade (mmm Sacher tarte…) with lingering smoke.
💡Thoughts
This is really great, and in tasting side-by-side to the Williamson clearly the superior spirit. It’s got nice and crisp contours, if that makes sense. And I’ve become really fond of fruity tobacco notes in whisky, especially if it can be had without an overexuberance of sherry. I’m not saying this overtakes my favourite Port Charlotte 10, but it at least gives it a good match, and I’d happily have a bottle at hand of this Laphi.
Worthwhile and Enjoyable
I should start paying more attention to Laphroaig again, I think!
By the way, wondering what’s up with the frog on the AM bottle? Another nickname for secret Laphroaig has been “leapfrog”, which gives the distillery away in a comical way while not breaking the contract of not putting the distillery’s name on the bottle. On this theme, here’s an old meme I made for the covid online tasting days 😉
DuckDrams 
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