Description
Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson
The Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson and a tribute to the life of Bessie Williamson, an icon of Laphroaig and the first female distillery manager to own and run a Scotch whisky distillery in the 20th century. The Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson Story has been aged for 25 years in refill American oak hogsheads and refill barrels and bottled at 43% ABV. The larger size of a hogshead allows the liquid’s character to remain prevalent over 25 years of maturation while letting the signature smoky flavour of Laphroaig shine through. The overall effect is one of lingering warmth and unmistakable Islay character, representing the enduring legacy of Bessie.
Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson
Except for the problem with that, the USP of this bottle is precisely the history; it’s a celebration of the distillery’s establishment in Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson and bicentenary of its existence. 1815 was a long time ago. Laphroaig had already been around 41 years when the Crimean War ended. I wonder if Laphroaig did a 1915 centenary release? Or perhaps a 1918 WWI celebration cask release? I doubt it. They were probably trying to produce whisky as fast as possible for the troops in Europe, who really needed a drink, to worry about marketing pap like that. As always, if you know, please do comment.
Instead, I will regale you with its history of Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson is
to help provide a yardstick for Laphroaig’s quality and style to compare with today’s offering. To date, this includes the 10-year-old (quite a few moons ago) and more recently the Four Oak, PX Cask and a dram of the Lore. The Ten is a distant memory, but a good one. The PX Cask is ok – inoffensive and quaffable but lacking a certain “je ne sais quoi” – I agree with Jason’s score of 4/10 for the PX. The Lore didn’t really do much for me at all – it was decidedly average and not well balanced. And the Four Oak is to whisky what a fart is to a 3-course dinner – a poor reminder of what has gone before. Again, I agree with Jason’s score of 2/10 for this. As I said, Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson.
Before I move onto the 1815, I must say a few words on the topic of “travel retail exclusive”. There aren’t many other phrases that raise the bile like it on Planet Whisky, except perhaps “flippers” I reckon. The phrase is met, usually, with derision and sneers. Travel retail exclusive bottlings are the place where (potentially good) whisky goes to die, on a shelf in an airport where the customer can’t really shop around (unless they want liters of Red Label or Bells). And yet we still buy these limited drams of Laphroaig 1815. And drink it. We must do it; otherwise, it would cease to exist, right? I’m sure people do like them (each to their own and all that). That’s my observation of its current status. Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson
Anyway, to the 1815. The Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson is yet another no-age-statement travel retail expression, released in 2017 with a pretty hefty price tag (which is becoming more the norm these days for this kind of thing) of £84.95 from the Whisky Exchange, or £90 via Amazon. That’s for a 70cl bottle, but it is bottled at 48% which isn’t too shabby in comparison; the Four Oak is bottled at 40% ABV. It has been aged in first-fill bourbon barrels and new European oak hogsheads. Otherwise, there’s very little else in factual terms mentioned about this release, I don’t understand why some distilleries don’t put details of their travel releases on their websites. Are they trying to hide something? Yes is probably the answer to that question, Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson.
I must state that this bottle has come into my possession through my lovely and generous wife, but I will consider price in my review for parity Laphroaig 25 Year Bessie Williamson
Laphroaig The Cask Legacy
Colour: Burnished amber illuminated by a red setting sun.
On the nose: Toasty walnuts, TCP, slight tar, oily rags, iodine and some tart lemon boiled sweets. A salty caramel pervades throughout. Juicy raisins join in. It’s intriguing; there are a few layers here. It has a heavy manner sitting on the tongue. The smoke comes through but it’s not a big a hit as I was expecting, it’s just a decent whiff in there, bringing it all together, but present enough so that you need to really find what’s hiding. Quite frankly, it’s very well balanced overall.
In the mouth: There’s some nice body to this. It’s thick and chewy with a lovely mouthfeel – there’s some heat there but it isn’t harsh. It’s really quite refined. The smoke and peat punch big and bold at first and lasts for quite a long time, overriding everything initially whilst partnering a medicine cabinet aroma. So long does it last that it makes you wonder what else is to come, but come it does. As it fades it reveals toffee, dried fig and a hint of ash. A dash of salt and iodine too with lingering tar carried by some woody notes, some spice and burnt almond to finish. Again, this is really well-balanced delicious dram. The sweetness from the toffee notes balance the heady smoky notes really well. Really good stuff Laphroaig The Cask Legacy
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Conclusions
Trying a sample of this straight after a sample of the PX Cask on a separate evening, and that body and richness the PX is missing is present so much more in this Laphroaig The Cask Legacy. It’s nice to see that not all travel retail exclusive releases contain naff whisky.
The 1815 is very well balanced and keeps that medicinal/smokey fingerprint of Laphroaig all the way through without overdoing it. For those who might mention the “no-age-statement” argument relative to the price well this shows that it doesn’t need to have a “10”, “12” or “15” on the bottle for it to be any good. If you want to put what you think is an acceptable price based on an age, you’re doing yourself out of lovely experiences like this one.
So, what about the future of Laphroaig? Well, by the powers of probability, they must be putting some of their juice in good casks. So maybe there’s some good stuff that might just come our way in the future. Here’s hoping. And if not, many folks can wax lyrical about it. All whilst balancing a bottle of it on a rock in the ocean for that insta pic of Laphroaig The Cask Legacy
Trade name
Whisky
Item No.
1412147
Whisky region
Islay
Country of origin
Great Britain
Alcohol by volume [% AbV]
43.0
Manufacturer information
Laphroaig Distillery,,PA42 7DU Port Ellen, Islay, Argyll,GB
Warnings
Drink responsibly.
Storage conditions
Store in a cool dry place.
