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One of my vices is single malt whisky, my favourites being the peaty Islay whiskys, particularly Laphroaig (pronounced La-froyg).
Each bottle of Laphroaig comes with a little booklet with a unique code printed on it which you can use to register as a “Friend of Laphroaig”. This gives you a lifetime lease on a square foot of land on Laphroaig’s land on the island of Islay which you can visit and claim your annual ground rent of a dram of Laphroaig.
You can use the codes from subsequent purchases to accrue points towards merchandise such as engraved glasses, clothing and so on, it’s all a bit of a marketing gimmick really but occasionally there is something a bit more special on offer exclusively for the “Friends of Laphroaig”. Such was the case with the Triple Wood special edition. Only 700 bottles were made available for the Friends of Laphroaig with the rest going to duty free sales so I quickly snatched one up which arrived on the 3rd December and I wasted no time in opening it.
Triple Wood is, as the name suggests, triple matured in 3 types of wood cask; Firstly in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, then small 19th century style quarter casks and finally in large European oak Oloroso sherry casks, it is non-chill filtered and bottled at 48% ABV. So this is very similar to the excellent Quarter Cask bottling but with a second finishing in sherry casks. I found the nose to be very woody with toffee and strong on the iodine but a lot less of the peaty smokiness than is usual for a Laphroaig. The mouth feel is quite creamy like the QC but it’s sweeter than expected, the sherry influence is noticeable and there is quite a bit of vanilla and wood followed by the usual long Laphroaig finish. It’s an excellent whisky and makes a nice alternative to the standard 10 Year Old and Quarter Cask I usually keep ‘in stock’. Having demolished half of it already I’ll be trying to keep the rest for an occasional treat.
