DRAMFINDER VERDICT
The premium NAS Laphroaig. Multi-cask, sweeter and rounder, the 'richest ever Laphroaig' (says the marketing)
77DRAMFINDER SCORE / 100
PASS
92+DEFINITIVE88-91RECOMMENDED84-87QUALIFIED80-83TASTE-DEPENDENT<80PASS
One number, 0 to 100. It blends independent critic ratings, community sentiment, how widely the bottle is discussed, and how consistent it has stayed across bottlings. This one lands in the PASS band. The critic average below is just one of those ingredients, not the headline.
Laphroaig Lore is a NAS premium expression marrying Laphroaig matured in ex-bourbon, ex-Oloroso sherry, and quarter casks, bottled at 48% ABV. The marketing calls it 'the richest ever Laphroaig'; in practice it takes the medicinal iodine Laphroaig DNA and rounds it with a sweeter, sherry-touched, oak-spiced character, more vanilla, more dried fruit, a touch of chocolate, alongside the band-aid and peat. It's a competent, more accessible Laphroaig than the standard 10, and the multi-cask marriage gives it a complexity the bourbon-only 10 lacks. The 48% ABV is a step up too.
The catch is price and value. Lore usually costs £75 to £100, which puts it above the 10 (£40-55), the Quarter Cask (£45-55), and the Cask Strength 10 (£55-70), and many Laphroaig drinkers consider the Cask Strength 10 the better whisky at a lower price. Lore is good; it's just not obviously worth the premium over its cheaper siblings.
Buy this if you want a sweeter, sherry-touched, more accessible premium Laphroaig and the price doesn't bother you. Skip it if the Quarter Cask or Cask Strength 10 (both cheaper) would do. The right price is £65 to £85. Above £100 the Cask Strength 10 is the smarter buy.
TASTING NOTESDRAMFINDER EDITORIAL
Nose
Iodine and peat, then a sweeter layer: vanilla, dried fruit, a touch of chocolate, an oak spice. Rounder and sweeter than the standard 10.
Palate
Medicinal peat at the front, then the sherry-and-quarter-cask sweetness develops: vanilla, dried fruit, chocolate, a warm oak spice, a warming heat from the 48%. More complex than the bourbon-only 10.
Finish
Long. Iodine, peat, vanilla, dried fruit, and an oak spice fade together. Sweeter and rounder than the 10's dry medicinal finish.
PAIRINGFOOD · CIGAR · SETTING
Food: smoked salmon, blue cheese, dark chocolate, dried fruit. Cigar: a full Maduro. Setting: late evening, after a meal. A sweeter, rounder Laphroaig.
WHAT REVIEWERS SAYINDEPENDENT REVIEWS
"Some NAS Laphroaig with a story, at +/-100€ a skittle. As unnecessary as some think? Let's see… Colour: pale gold. Nose: easy, rounded, vanilla-ed, sligthly almondy, moderately smoky, and mildly citrusy. It won't do any harm, as it appears. Mouth: a very oily mouth feel, with some wood ashes as well as quite a lot of vanilla. Some kind of rounded peat smoke, I'd say, but this very elementary combo works pretty well, in no small part because there's more and more brine coming through. Gets then smokier and smokier, and to tell you the truth, all this smoke tends to become a little stuffy."mixed reception
2016 BOTTLING
". Mouth: light and rather thin, sooty, peppery and pretty ashy. Green walnuts and a little salt, plus rather a lot of oversteeped black tea. Little depth and not much oomph., but as they say, it does go down effortlessly. Finish: short, ashy. More black tea and more walnuts. Almost no aftertaste. Comments: pleasant, I'm just not sure the whisky world really needed some NAS peated AnCnoc at 40% vol. that was finished in sherry."mixed reception
CRITIC AND COMMUNITYCONSENSUS
35%
POSITIVE · 98 MENTIONS
POSITIVE 36% · MIXED 2% · NEUTRAL 60% · NEGATIVE 2%
Solid but not standout in either dimension.
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU BUY THISLIFTING THE VEIL
WHY IT’S BOUGHT
- plusThe multi-cask marriage gives it a complexity the bourbon-only 10 lacks.
- plus48% ABV is a step up from the standard 10's 40%.
- plusA more accessible, sweeter, rounder Laphroaig for someone who finds the 10 too austere.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- caveatPriced above the 10, the Quarter Cask, AND the Cask Strength 10, and many drinkers consider the Cask Strength 10 the better whisky at a lower price.
- caveatNAS; the marketing's 'richest ever Laphroaig' claim is hard to verify.
- caveatSame medicinal core as the rest of the range; won't convert anyone who doesn't already like Laphroaig.
BEHIND THE LABEL
- flagBeam Suntory's premiumisation play: a NAS multi-cask expression, a fancy name, a price well above the age-stated 10.
- flagThe 'Lore' branding (a 'recipe handed down through generations of distillers') is marketing storytelling around what is, in practice, a multi-cask vatting.