Lagavulin and laphroaig

[Eirik]

now, before my question I would like to point out that both are great, but...

when I drink Laphroaig I like it, when I drink Lagavulin it's also great, but I finally took the time to compare them at the same time the other day and got a bit disappointed...

the laphroaig kind of lost all of it's charm compared to lagavulin (talking 10y laph and 16 y laga). Lagavulin is so superior to the Laphroaig I think. Since I've always been a Laphroaig fan it was not that fun...but it'll be easier next time in the shop though...

Any wievs?

maybe I'm just turning in to be a bit more fan of sherrycasks then before...everybody's changing I guess.

[Lawrence]

Perhaps a more even comparison would be between the Laphroaig 15 and the Lagavulin 16 or the Laphroaig CS and the Lagavulin 12.

Personally I find the house differences between the peated Islay's (Ardbeg, Bowmore, Lagavulin and Laphroaig) to be quite pronounced. While they are all peated Islays they are different.

[bamber]

I would agree - Laphroaig CS vs. Lagavulin 16YO would be a more even match, but I think you need to call on Ardbeg to take on my favourite 16YO

[Frodo]

I would have thought the 'froig 10yr against the CS laga watered down to a comperable strength. The CS is only a 12yr old, right?

[Spirit of Islay]

Why water the Laga CS down when you can compare it to the Laph 10yo CS ? Mind you the Laga will still brush away Laph with ease . Laphroaig is a pale comparison of what it used to be , the 10yo CS is the most disappointing bottling i think i've ever had , i was definetly expecting a whole lot more from it especially after having similar aged/strength SMWS Laphroaig bottlings .
Should be interesting to see how the Quarter cask Laphs compare .
Slainté
Gordon

[Lawrence]

Frodo, I picked the Lagavulin CS 12 because it's bottled at 57.8% and the Laphroaig CS 10 is bottled at 55.7%. I thought these two would be a more even comparison since they are of similar age and alcohol by volumne(ABV).

The Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig are quite far apart in age although similar in ABV at 43% and 40% respectively.

[hpulley]

I hope to pick up the Caol Ila CS soon and if I ever see the Laphroaig CS then Laph 12 vs. Laga 10 vs CI ? all cask strength should be an interesting HTHTH indeed!

Harry

[Lawrence]

The Caol Ila CS is supposed to be introduced into BC for Christmas however there is no sign of the Laphroaig CS. The agents in Canada appear to be useless.

[PoppaMitch]

I did a Lagavulin CS v. Laphroaig CS v. Caol Ila CS tasting and I think the Caol Ila won it going away.

[Lawrence]

I'm not surprised that Caol Ila fared so well in your tasting. Caol Ila has been a one of the Islays that I've enjoyed for years though mostly as bottlings from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. I've tasted the 3 current OB's as well as the Rare Malts Caol Ila and of the four the OB 18 has been my favourite. What does surprise me is that the CS fared so well. When I have the chance I'll give it another go.

[Admiral]

The site won't let me lodge my vote, but I'd take the Lagavulin 16yo anyday.

Yes, it could be that your tastebuds are starting to prefer the influence sherry.

But it is probably an unfair comparison - put a sweet malt up against a relatively unsweet malt, and I reckon most of our tastebuds would prefer the sweetness. Goes for most foods and beverages, I would think.

Agree with the other suggestions wholeheartedly:

Try Laga 16 vs Laphroaig 15yo. (The 15yo Laph is much sweeter than the 10yo).

Try Laphroaig 10 CS vs Laga 12 CS.

And yes, Caol Ila are making bloody good whisky that - in some expressions - are preferable to the more famed malts from Islay.

Cheers,
Admiral

[islayjunkie]

I tried the Laphroaig 10 CS and Laga 12 CS and thought the Laphroaig 10 CS green stripe was a better match then the red strip.

What's up with the Laphroaig 10 CS green stripe? I only found 1 bottle of Laphroaig 10 CS green stripe and have been looking for another since.

The red stripe is not nearly as good in my opinion however considering what others say about the quality slipping it may depend on which batch was tasted.

I remember having the expectation that my first sip of red stripe would be comparable to the green but was really disappointed. Unfortunately the new red stripe is common and I believe it has replaced the green.

Between Lagavulin 12 CS and Laphroaig 10 CS green stripe the Laga is the clear choice for flavor and nose. I have 2 bottles tucked away for my golden years... and I'm 37

[Lawrence]

Could it be that your Laphroaig CS green stripe had been subjected to the effects of oxygenation ( the bottle being opened and exposed to air) ?

Perhaps this would explain the differences between the red and green stripe Laphroaig.

[lucabeer]

Normal releases (Laphroaig 10 and Lagavulin 16): I prefer the Lagavulin and its richness. I would also say I prefer it to the Laphroaig 15.

Cask strength releases (Laphroaig 10 CS and Laphroaig 12): I prefer the Laphroaig, even if I have only tried the red stripe version.

And I prefer Ardbeg 10 to both...

[Admiral]

I attended a special tasting earlier tonight which brought together a Laphroaig 10yo, Laphroaig 15yo, and a Lagavulin 16yo.

(Other peated Islay malts in the line up were an Ardbeg 10yo, the Caol Ila 18yo, and a Bowmore Dawn).

For me, the Lagavulin won hands down, followed closely by the Laphroaig 15yo.

What I found surprising was that the Laphroaig 10yo was quite sweeter than I remember. The difference in sweetness between the 10yo and 15yo Laphraoigs is not as pronounced as it once was.

Cheers,
Admiral

[Tom]

totally agree with what most people say here. laga 16 is indeed no comparisie with laph 10, it is much older and thus u cant compare them that easely, unless u wanted to know what the best standard bottling is. Laph 15 vs laga 16 would indeed be a batlle, and for me the laph 15 would win.
as for the cask strengths, nothing can beat the caol ila CS anymore. im gratefull to the person that brought up the whole laphroaig CS story, indeed the red one is inferiour to the green one. i tasted much more sherry in the red "Cask strength" while the green "Straight From The wood" was a real peat bomb. i asked this to laphroaig themselfes and Robin Shields himself guaranteed there is actually no difference at all, the red ones (they replaced the old green ones and recent bottlings are bottled at a lower % ABV) have never seen any sherry just like the green ones didnt.they "should" be identical so, i believe him offcourse, yet i have the botlle and i still swear it has changed and not a litlle bit.. for the worse.
so, it used to be the old laph that was best CS of islay, but now it is caol ila, then laga and then laph (for the CS serie)

[Lawrence]

This is very curious, as Tom and Islayjunkie have stated the older green stripe Laphroaig CS was bottled at 57.3% and the Laphroaig red stripe CS is bottled and 55.7%.

What would be the advantage of Laphroaig doing that?

[Tom]

Robin shields said when i asked the whole CS story that its because of the "angels share" he said the angels became too greedy; more and more vaporized and thus they watered it down just a tad bit more, however from the red "Original Cask Strength" the older bottles are still at 57.3% while the new bottles are on 55.7%.
mind you i have the 57.3 red and green bottle, maybe the newer versions are back of the original quality. certainly hope so.

[islayjunkie]

Could it be that your Laphroaig CS green stripe had been subjected to the effects of oxygenation ( the bottle being opened and exposed to air) ?

No, it was a fresh bottle. I drank it in a week

Maybe my memory is at fault here. I thought it tasted better but maybe the Lagavulin 12yo CS spoilt me by the time I tried the red stripe. The green stripe definitley had more peat and was less sweet or sherried.

[Lawrence]

Does anybody think that less than 2% difference in ABV will have such an affect on taste? I am not disputing that there are differences, I'm just curious as to why.

[Tom]

Lawrence i understand you completely, i couldnt believe it myself if they said so, so the only thing i can say to everyone that doesnt believe just anybody (and thats how its supposed to be): try it. i dont believe there will be a difference between the reds. but i swear to everything i have that the red i have is deffinatly different then all the greens i had and loved, so far everyone that tryed them both and still remembers the taste of the "straight from the wood" agrees that it has changed, not everyone says its for the worse though.

[Admiral]

Lawrence,

Picking up on your question of detecting small variances in alcholic strength:

I find this an interesting area, because some cask strength whiskies disguise their strength very well. Others burn so much, you think you've swallowed acid.

The SMWS bottlings are a great example.....sometimes you sit down with a bottle that's 60% ABV, and it's just so smooth and delicious that you don't notice the proof. Then you follow it up immediately with a different malt that's only 57 or 58% and for some reason the alcohol is overwhelming, even though it's actually less than the previous dram.

I believe the differences in ABV certainly impact our impression of taste and flavours. I'm usually against adding water to whiskies, and if I ever do, it will only be for cask strengths, and even then, only a few drops. But the difference it can make to the detectable flavours is quite surprising.

Cheers,
Admiral

[Rudy]

Hi All,

I agree it should be the 16 vs 15 and 12cs vs 10 cs.

Unfortunately can't do a HTH, since I only have the 16 and 12cs, but not the others to compare it with.

Maybe a bid off thread, but since the issue green vs red stripe came up (didn't know that ):

has anybody noticed the 'phroaig standard 10 bottling changed as well?

There used to be a calm sea with the destillery pictured on the tube, now the sea has wild waves...

Has anybody noticed any differences in taste?

Every time I see bottles with the calm sea, I get the feeling I should buy it. Untill now I never did, but should I?

Rudy.

[Rudy]

Hi All,

I agree it should be the 16 vs 15 and 12cs vs 10 cs.

Unfortunately can't do a HTH, since I only have the 16 and 12cs, but not the others to compare it with.

Maybe a bid off thread, but since the issue green vs red stripe came up (didn't know that ):

has anybody noticed the 'phroaig standard 10 bottling changed as well?

There used to be a calm sea with the destillery pictured on the tube, now the sea has wild waves...

Has anybody noticed any differences in taste?

Every time I see bottles with the calm sea, I get the feeling I should buy it. Untill now I never did, but should I?

Rudy.

[Admiral]

Yes, I've noticed the standard 10yo get a little sweeter lately.

Cheers,
Admiral

[Lawrence]

Curious that the packaging has been changed to show some breaking waves instead of the calm bay as on the older tubes. Laphroaig 10 has changed some in the last number of years for sure, the Cask Strength is closer to what I remember from "long" ago. However it's still one of my favourite drams.

[patrick dicaprio]

I had a bottle of the 53.65 "Hints of a driftwood bonfire." pretty good but not great. have you tried it?

Pat

[Lawrence]

Hi Patrick, I've not had that particular bottling, I have an open 53.55 and I quite like it. I've been nursing it along for a while now because there are challenges to replacing SMWS whiskies here.

[patrick dicaprio]

lagavulin, and not really that close for me! Not that i dont love laphroaig, but only one can be the best.

Pat

[patrick dicaprio]

The 53.65 is a Caol Ila 12 yo. I drank it and them bought a bottle of the Caol Ila 12yo from a shop. Are these the exact same whisky??

Pat

[Admiral]

No, they are very different products.

The 53.65 was bottled from a single cask.

Each individual cask is unique and different, and two casks that sat side by side in the warehouse for 12 years could end up tasting completely different when the time comes to bottle.

The Caol Ila 12yo OB that you purchased will have been vatted from many, many casks. All the casks (I don't know how many....20?......50?.......) would have been emptied into one or more marrying vats (a large container to allow the contents to mix), and then the final product bottled.

That's the appeal of the SMWS....you are tasting individual single casks that often taste very different from the official bottlings released by the distillery.

Cheers,
Admiral

[patrick dicaprio]

stupidly, i figured out the answer shortly after i posted it. Maybe i need to stop drinking whisky while posting. Alternatively, maybe i need to have more

Pat

[Admiral]

For those of us not fortunate enough to live in Scotland, I find enjoying a malt whilst browsing these pages to be a fairly satisfactory consolation!

Not sure my boss would approve whilst at work though!

Cheers,
Admiral

[jimidrammer]

Here's my take:
I have the Laphroiag 15, very smokey, some peat and not too sweet.
I have the Ardbeg 10, very peaty, some smoke and slighty sweet
I have the Lagavulin 16, The perfect balance of smoke , peat and sweetness.
I wish I could get the Ardbeg 17 as it is supposed to be great. Don't have the variety available here. Hell I live in a dry county so it's a good drive just to search.

[Ed]

Hello All,
Had my first (three) Laga 16 yo tonight. Oh, My Sweet Mother of Barley! that is good stuff! My only beef against the Islay's is that I can't drink enough... Something about bourbon makes me take a sip and sigh, "Ah, that is wonderful. I feel complete!" The Islays and I take a sip and sigh, "Ah, that is wonderful! Give me more!" I don't necessarily drink less bourbon or more scotch, that is just how I feel as I drink them.
Anyway, after I paid my tab I asked the bartender how much the Laga was and he looked at my bill and he started to discount it a bit. But that was not why I had asked, I wanted to buy him a drink of this lovely elixir and had to know how much it was in order to do so. (Tipping is more or less unheard of in Japan.) Good whiskey, good prices, good pours, good service. I will be going back there!
Ed