Whisky : Laphroaig 8 Year SMWS 29.264 “Thermonuclear pasta water”

Country/Region : Scotland/Islay

ABV : 58.7%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon

Age : 8 Years (Distilled 24 March 2011)

Nose :  Maritime salt, iodine, and coal smoke— unmistakably Laphroaig.  Industrial shoreline, tar stained beaches, hair spray, mineral oil, and a dirty, cold, overcast Atlantic beach.

Palate : Ash and salt, the flavors are clean and crisp.  Smoked cheese, burning green wood, charred lemons, mild starchiness, and sweet grassy sugar cane.  Bit of sweet saltwater taffy near the end. 

Finish :  Lingering sweet sugar cane and char.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Jersey Shore Death Metal Concert

Something Better : Ledaig 13 Year; Single Cask Nation (more complex maritime and bbq notes)

Something Similar : Laphroaig PX Cask (more sweet smoke, similar salt, less citrus/cheese funk)

Something Worse : Finlaggan Cask Strength (similar industrial/burnt sugar cane, more herbal)

Notes :  I am not really sure how the SMWS code name fits with this one— maybe there was a bit of cacio e pepe in the salt/cracked black pepper, but that feels like a stretch.  

Everything about this dram I found to be quintessentially Laphroaig.  The flavors on it were crisp and clean— just a perfect embodiment of biting maritime, coal, iodine, and funk.  I would be willing to bet that anyone who has had Laphroaig could pick this out of a blind lineup, it was just so immediately recognizable.  Definitely a solid bottle, though hardly one I would suggest anyone run out to find, Laphroaig IBs have become quite pricey— and ones like this, from recognizable independent bottlers such as SMWS, sell out remarkably quickly.   While I thought this was better than any of the 10CS editions of Laphroaig that I have tried— its flavors were richer and body more viscous— the 10CS probably represents a better value on the whole.