- High Spirits -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laphroaig

Laphroaig is the only whisky to carry the “Royal Warrant” of the Prince of Wales (the 15-year-old is reportedly his favourite scotch whisky), which was awarded in person during a visit to the distillery in 1994.

Islay whisky is Scotch whisky made on Islay (pronounced eye-luh), the southernmost of the Inner Hebridean Islands located off the west coast of Scotland.

What a different flavour from your everyday whisky. Where other whiskys have a hint of peat and smoke in the back ground, this whisky has it upfront, way up front! The smell and flavour of the peat smoke hit you right away and are by far the dominant flavours in the mix. The other aspect of this whisky that strikez syou on first taste is how hot it tastes on the tongue, much hotter than other whiskies like Glenn Fiddick, very unusual. The traditional single malt scotch flavours are still there, but pused into the background by the malt smoke and heat. this comes from the specially created mini casks that this whisky is in for the second portion of the aging process. These mini casks create more surface contact between the whisky and wood and thus instill more charred oak flavour to the whisky and creates this unusual drink.

I really enjoyed the unusual flavour of this whisky, though it is definitely something of an aquired taste (like single malt whisky in general). On repeated tasting it is still a genuine surprise to the taste buds, but it becomes even more pleasent with each sample.

Not cheap (though what quality single malt scotch is?), but completely worth a few extra dollars as a change of pace from your usual whisky.