Laphroaig – 25 Year Old Cask Strength Edition 2023 (75cl, 47.3%)

Laphroaig 25 Year Old Cask Strength is an Islay single malt, and this is the 2023 edition of the distillery's annual release. It was made from Laphroaig's own floor-malted barley and matured for 25 years in ex-bourbon American oak casks. It is bottled at its natural cask strength of 47.3%, non-chill-filtered and of natural colour, in a 75cl bottle. The spirit is heavily peated, but after a quarter of a century the fruit comes forward and the smoke settles into the background. The distillery describes a nose of pear drops, green apple, custard and warm pastry with cured ham and cinnamon. The palate has pineapple, peach and mango with white pepper and barbecued orange rind, and the finish is long and soft with gentle smoke.