Laphroaig – Quarter Cask (75cl, 48%)

Laphroaig Quarter Cask is an Islay single malt with no age statement, bottled at 48% in a 75cl bottle and non-chill-filtered. After maturing in ex-bourbon barrels, the whisky is matured again in quarter casks of about 125 litres. These give roughly 30% more wood contact, which softens the peat and adds coconut, banana and vanilla. The approach revives a 19th-century tradition of moving spirit in small casks by horse and cart. The nose brings peat smoke, iodine, seaweed and vanilla. Medicinal peat and bonfire smoke meet coconut, banana and creamy vanilla on the palate, and the finish is long, with smoke, oak spice and sweet malt.