Laphroaig 10 year or Quarter Cask?

[Rankles]

I'm getting a new bottle on Friday and can get the 10 year at work for about 20 quid, which is a pretty damn good price. I was wondering though, is the quarter cask much different for a few pounds more?

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I love the 10yo but when I tasted the QC I quickly put that at the top of the Laphroaig pile. It's a hard call but I think that the QC is slightly more rounded and richer for me but I have a feeling that it is not as old as the 10. But for 20quid you might as well stick to the 10 for a first off.

My notes are as follows

Lap 10

N: Sweet syurpy coffee, Banana & clean brisk sea side
T: Lovely sweetness enveloping th sea air and smokey peat
F: Ash on the roof of the palate with the sweetness bursting through refusing to leave

Lap QC

N: Seashore gravel, warm peat, dry cow path !?!?! and an underlying sweet maltiness, also glimmers of sweet green pea pods.

T: Heaps of smoke through out enveloping the whole mouth, red liquorice and other mouth watering & mouth filling flavours which I cannot seperate but are brilliant. Beautiful sweetness to balance.

F: Very Long with a touch of spice and of course lovely smoke & peat to the end.

[Aidan]

I think the quarter cask is 7 or 8 yrs old. Can't remember for sure, though.

[Dubois]

Having tried both,I would go for the Quarter Cask,for sure...

[pouranother]

If you've had the 10, go with the QC.
Differences are subtle, well worth the extra cost

[Whiskana]

Having tried both,I would go for the Quarter Cask,for sure...

Quarter Cask definitely...

[Aidan]

You cant go wrong with either, to be honest, but if you have not tried the quarter cask and have already tried the 10 year old, you might as well go for the quarter cask.

[Rankles]

You cant go wrong with either, to be honest, but if you have not tried the quarter cask and have already tried the 10 year old, you might as well go for the quarter cask.

Yeah I have had a couple drams of the 10 year... might give the 1/4 a go then. Thinking about it though with the deal I can get on the 10 yhear if Tesco charges quite a bit more for the QC I'll stick with the 10.

Also, we have Isle Of Jura 10 year and Glenfiddich 12 on offer at work for 15 and 18 respectively (so 13.50 and 16.20 for me) are they worth picking up, as I have yet to try them? I hear terrible things about the Jura despite it's great price, and I hear so so things about the Glen.

[Aidan]

Well, personally, I don't think Glenfiddich 12 is great, but that means nothing. It is worth that price, though.

[Frodo]

I'm underwelmed by the Laphroaig 10 but the QC was eye-poppingly good!

[Deactivated Member]

There's a lot of info on the forum about the QC.
I also remember verifying the exact age, it's somewhere findable with a search, but I seem to recall that 7-8 years old is about right. Although it does give the impression of being older.

I do like the 10 y/o, but that QC is pretty damn good!

Go for the QC.
MT

[jeffk]

I really like the 10 year old Laphraoig, but next to the QC, the QC is IMHO so much more. It's a wonderful dram.

IMHO also, the Jura and Glenfiddich would be a let down compared to the Laphroaigs, but again that's just my opinion, and I'm an Islay fan (of which Jura and Glenfiddich are not).

[Drrich1965]

While in Costa Rica last winter, I spent some time with the QC. What a yummy dram. I love the notes of citrus that add complexity to the usual medicinal and peaty flavors. It was actually similar in flavor profile (minus some of the wood and added complexity of age) the othe 30yo.

Of course, I enjoy the 10yo very much, as i do the CS. I know others are not huge fans of the 15, but I have enjoyed that one as well.

I am in the vast majority, I think, but I really prefer the flavor profile of the current Laphs to the old Johnson 10year old sample I had (circa 1980s). That was so auster, nearly no sweetnes or maltiness to balnce the peat attack. Perhaps I am not as much of a peat freak as some. It also could be that I had an old bottle (dreaded and rumored old bottle effect). I am too much of a novice to know..

[laphroaig10_65]

Laphroaig Quarter Cask matured about five years in normal 200 litres casks, and then was transferred for nearly a year in quarter casks (volume of about 100 litres) to accelerate the maturation.
If you know and like other peated whiskies I suggest you QC, otherwise it’s better to begin with 10 yo and then to continue with QC. Bear in mind that the alcoholic gradation of the last 10 yo is 40%, that of QC is 48%.
Nevertheless you cannot regardless of both.
Bye
Luca

[drfred]

I LOVE IT!!!!!

Cheers, Fred

[Ize]

I would vote for the beast itself, there nothing like 10yo CS for me from Laphroaig. Of course, other Laphroaigs are very good too and QC comes second, but still ... nothing makes my socks roll on my feet like Laphroaig 10yo CS, hmm when talking about whiskies.

[Deactivated Member]

Has to be the quarter cask if not the CS.

[Single Malt Kommunist]

The Quarter Cask has such an incredibly long finish... Its a shame one must brush ones teeth before bedtime (albeit, it still manages to fight its way through the peppermint paste : ) )

[Aidan]

There was a whisky flavored toothpaste available once. I think it may have been discussed here many years ago.

[Aidan]

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Looks like it was made in the 70's

[Single Malt Kommunist]

There was a whisky flavored toothpaste available once. I think it may have been discussed here many years ago.

I'll be sure to consider that when checking into AA

[Deactivated Member]

"No, officer...it's my toothpaste...."

[Rankles]

Thanks for the advice guys, I ended up with the Laphroig ten year purely because of the deal I could get at work and it's the most interesting whisky I've tried.

It's exactly as I've tried in two pubs and at my girlfriends but there's something different, maybe due to the other samples having been oxidised a bit.

It's more complex, and there's a stranger finish on it I don't get anywhere else. A heavy smoky... plant-like taste. Is this due to it being newly opened? Very good...