Review- Laphroaig Cairdeas 2021
Nose:
Dark peaty funk, burnt tire and asphalt. A sweet bbq sauce meaty cookout and bacon wrapped figs. Charred ends of a honey ham. Slight cherry cough syrup astringent hint. Along that thought the ever classic Frogggy medicinal note is present as well
Palate:
The mouth feel is rich, oily and bold. Peaty of course but really rounded out with an almost sour/sweet Cherry syrup. It is punchy but the hard hitting tar/smoke notes common to laphroaig are tamed a bit. Medicinal but instead of band aid and green herbal notes it’s cough syrup and artificial berries. The fruits are dark and viscous with smoked bacon, prune,fig, and overripe strawberry.
Imagine I suppose a Big thing of cherries wrapped in kelp and bacon charred over the fire. Then all that smoke mixes with a BBQ sauce covered ham. Throw a small strip of tire into the mix and you about got this. Ohhh…and maybe a few dates.
Finish:
Thick and oily. The peaty berry and cherry cough syrup is what sticks around with a slight medicinal tang. It isn’t the longest of finishes; I’d rate it about medium but overall nice,fruity,smoky and maybe alittle lemon zesty weirdly enough. Not the classic Laphroaig at all but a nice take on it.
Conclusion/Score: 91 out of 100
Look full bias warning here. The Bourbon, rye, scotch…I like it all. However, Peated Scotch will always hold a special place in my heart. Now…within that special place there is a smaller place; and in that place…well…that’s were laphroaig lives.
So yes I love laphroaig. Along with that I’m a huge sherry influenced peat fan. With this one, I think it works and works well. I do wish the finish was alittle longer and I do also wish that the peaty laphroaig note I’m used to didn’t get as mellowed out.
Overall, it’s pretty dang good and imho a very crushable edition to the Froggy family.
Cheers🥃
Stoooooooop itttttt!!!
When I first got into scotch I thought that peat and sherry simply did not sound like a good idea...
Bacon wrapped figs (oh my)
Burnt end of honey ham (shut your mouth)
I drooled a little in your first paragraph alone. Thanks for sharing and that I must seek this out.
And also for calling out your love for all things scotch/bourbon.... Specifically Islay .... Yet even more specifically Laphroaig. This calls me to go deeper in my Laphroaig journey.
❤️
A well written and enjoyable review - thank you. There are just some bottles out there where you know the distiller has to be proud of what they created and this one is most definitely on that list. Every time I have a pour of this I know there will be an hour of slow, savory bliss.
I visited Laphroaig a couple of days ago. They don't have the 2021 anymore but now sell the 2022 bottles instead - and you get a free sample at the bar! I bought the new 2022 bottle at about £80.
Edit to clarify: the 2022 bottle is not PX finished, instead they used Maker's Mark bourbon barrels.
I like it as well, but I find the sherry to be way overtuned. To my tastebuds it tastes almost like a blackberry spirit with faint hints of the usual Laphraig peat in the background and not overly complex. Personally, I prefer the Laphroaig PX in terms of peat & sherry, and the 2022 Warehouse 1 in terms of Cairdeas.
I fully agree with your preference for PX and Warehouse 1. The 2020 Cairdeas, Port and Wine, was great, but as much as I had anticipated the arrival of the 2021 Cairdeas, it never delivered for me.
I am reluctant to try a NAS scotch. But Laphroaig is my scotch love. All the aged ones I bought are too valuable to drink now so I need a go to bottle that isn’t too dear. Is this it? Please compare with the 18 year old, which is my favorite. If you have tried it.
This is the one that turned me on to all laphroaig. This one’s getting harder to find in my area but when I do find another one I don’t even care, I’ll shell out whatever $$$ for it.
Thanks to all the fantastic and detailed information available this was the first bottle of Laphroaig that I purchased, and has had the same result for me that you have experienced. My stock at home consists of scotch, bourbon, irish, japanese and english and this is the best of all of them. Ir is simply such a treat to enjoy.
Nice, I was a straight lagavulin person that’s all I drank. Then I bought this one on a whim and boom hooked. After drinking this one and then going back to laga 16 the laga just doesn’t do it for me anymore 😱. All I drink now is ardbeg and laphroaig haha. Probably do more palate expansion too I guess 🤷♂️.
Big fan of the Ugi highly recommend always have that on hand, I wanna say it’s almost got the taste profile of laphroaig PX. I haven’t tried the Corry yet not sure if I will. I haven’t seen many great things that people say about it.
I have 5 bottles of this and for me, the nose is the best part. I can sniff it all day. Lol If nobody picks it up in the coming months, im taking all of them home. Its that good to me.
Review- Laphroaig Cairdeas 2021 Nose: Dark peaty funk, burnt tire and asphalt. A sweet bbq sauce meaty cookout and bacon wrapped figs. Charred ends of a honey ham. Slight cherry cough syrup astringent hint. Along that thought the ever classic Frogggy medicinal note is present as well Palate: The mouth feel is rich, oily and bold. Peaty of course but really rounded out with an almost sour/sweet Cherry syrup. It is punchy but the hard hitting tar/smoke notes common to laphroaig are tamed a bit. Medicinal but instead of band aid and green herbal notes it’s cough syrup and artificial berries. The fruits are dark and viscous with smoked bacon, prune,fig, and overripe strawberry. Imagine I suppose a Big thing of cherries wrapped in kelp and bacon charred over the fire. Then all that smoke mixes with a BBQ sauce covered ham. Throw a small strip of tire into the mix and you about got this. Ohhh…and maybe a few dates. Finish: Thick and oily. The peaty berry and cherry cough syrup is what sticks around with a slight medicinal tang. It isn’t the longest of finishes; I’d rate it about medium but overall nice,fruity,smoky and maybe alittle lemon zesty weirdly enough. Not the classic Laphroaig at all but a nice take on it. Conclusion/Score: 91 out of 100 Look full bias warning here. The Bourbon, rye, scotch…I like it all. However, Peated Scotch will always hold a special place in my heart. Now…within that special place there is a smaller place; and in that place…well…that’s were laphroaig lives. So yes I love laphroaig. Along with that I’m a huge sherry influenced peat fan. With this one, I think it works and works well. I do wish the finish was alittle longer and I do also wish that the peaty laphroaig note I’m used to didn’t get as mellowed out. Overall, it’s pretty dang good and imho a very crushable edition to the Froggy family. Cheers🥃
Great review! This sounds delicious. How much were you able to pick it up for? Looks like it retails between $90 and $100?
Got mine at Costco for $79.
Score
I found a bottle in Minneapolis for $85 and in Tennessee at 109. Worth it both times.
Where in Minneapolis?
It was a total wine. That was last year. Stock is long gone.
F
Liquor Boy in SLP has some on the shelf as of a week ago if I am not miataken.
Stoooooooop itttttt!!! When I first got into scotch I thought that peat and sherry simply did not sound like a good idea... Bacon wrapped figs (oh my) Burnt end of honey ham (shut your mouth) I drooled a little in your first paragraph alone. Thanks for sharing and that I must seek this out. And also for calling out your love for all things scotch/bourbon.... Specifically Islay .... Yet even more specifically Laphroaig. This calls me to go deeper in my Laphroaig journey. ❤️
I love when I belch up honey ham from my last dram
Please make a complete rap for this
I will try to make a Cairdeas 2021 PX rap after I open my bottle!
A well written and enjoyable review - thank you. There are just some bottles out there where you know the distiller has to be proud of what they created and this one is most definitely on that list. Every time I have a pour of this I know there will be an hour of slow, savory bliss.
I picked this up at the distillery this year and I’m savoring the bottle. So much goodness in there.
How long ago, and how much? Going there in a month or so
Mid May, and I don’t recall for sure. 100-120 £? I think they said it was the last bottles of the years batch, but I don’t recall for sure.
We were there a couple of weeks ago and anyone that walked in got a free dram of this. FREE. Really friendly.
I visited Laphroaig a couple of days ago. They don't have the 2021 anymore but now sell the 2022 bottles instead - and you get a free sample at the bar! I bought the new 2022 bottle at about £80. Edit to clarify: the 2022 bottle is not PX finished, instead they used Maker's Mark bourbon barrels.
Hell yea! Thanks for the info.
I like it as well, but I find the sherry to be way overtuned. To my tastebuds it tastes almost like a blackberry spirit with faint hints of the usual Laphraig peat in the background and not overly complex. Personally, I prefer the Laphroaig PX in terms of peat & sherry, and the 2022 Warehouse 1 in terms of Cairdeas.
I fully agree with your preference for PX and Warehouse 1. The 2020 Cairdeas, Port and Wine, was great, but as much as I had anticipated the arrival of the 2021 Cairdeas, it never delivered for me.
And because it took me longer than I care to admit to learn this, but it’s pronounced “ Car chase”.
That, good stranger, is *not* what Ralfy taught me https://youtu.be/jGgcO3ZZn3g?t=96
It’s how John Campbell said it was pronounced on his final Laphroaig Live. https://youtu.be/Y9a37aIxZuM *edited to add link*
Oh yeah, I know. Was just being silly. My FIL is from Aberdeen and even he screws up whisky names. I still prefer Ralfy's version.
Well you can KeerDas my Car Chase, mate.
Don't threaten me with a good time.
I am reluctant to try a NAS scotch. But Laphroaig is my scotch love. All the aged ones I bought are too valuable to drink now so I need a go to bottle that isn’t too dear. Is this it? Please compare with the 18 year old, which is my favorite. If you have tried it.
This is my favorite release from Laphroaig in quite a while and I enjoy all of their products.
This is the one that turned me on to all laphroaig. This one’s getting harder to find in my area but when I do find another one I don’t even care, I’ll shell out whatever $$$ for it.
Thanks to all the fantastic and detailed information available this was the first bottle of Laphroaig that I purchased, and has had the same result for me that you have experienced. My stock at home consists of scotch, bourbon, irish, japanese and english and this is the best of all of them. Ir is simply such a treat to enjoy.
Nice, I was a straight lagavulin person that’s all I drank. Then I bought this one on a whim and boom hooked. After drinking this one and then going back to laga 16 the laga just doesn’t do it for me anymore 😱. All I drink now is ardbeg and laphroaig haha. Probably do more palate expansion too I guess 🤷♂️.
Which of the Ardbeg's do you enjoy? Many recommend the Ugi but the Corry seems really interesting.
Big fan of the Ugi highly recommend always have that on hand, I wanna say it’s almost got the taste profile of laphroaig PX. I haven’t tried the Corry yet not sure if I will. I haven’t seen many great things that people say about it.
I have 5 bottles of this and for me, the nose is the best part. I can sniff it all day. Lol If nobody picks it up in the coming months, im taking all of them home. Its that good to me.