The term refers to how Laphroaig has performed throughout the course of its 201-year history. ‘Lore,’ according to the dictionary, means:
‘a collection of traditions and knowledge about a subject or held by a certain community that is generally passed down through the generations by word of mouth’
Many distilleries, like Laphroaig, use this method to pass on the expertise needed to create their whisky rather than anybody else’s.
Although Bessie Williamson, who inherited the distillery from the last of the founding Johnston family, is considered the last generation of family ownership, the expertise of how Laphroaig is created has been passed down via a series of managers since she resigned in 1972.
John Campbell is seventh in that line and was part of the team that created Lore.
If we talk about specifications then here it is:
It’s a blend of different cask types and ages – first-fill sherry, first-fill bourbon, refill bourbon, and whisky finished in European-oak sherry casks are all included in the recipe, with each component reinforcing one of the core flavours – older bourbon-cask-matured whisky for floral, refill bourbon and sherry for different kinds of fruit, younger whisky for dryness, and rich peat smoke from all of them.
LAPHROAIG LORE, 48% ABV
Nose:
Soft olive oil, baked apples, and hints of a sweet sultana on the nose. Carbolic soap, TCP, freshly paved tarmac, and dry ash lie beneath warm leather and coal smoke. A deep grassy note, a mix of chlorophyll bitterness, sweet green grass, and peppery olive oil, lies in the middle. Banana chips and dried tropical fruit give it a candied sweetness as it rests in the glass.
On the Palate:
it’s richly textured and greasy once again. It begins out mildly, with gentle spice, honeysuckle, and softly sweetened lemonade, before ramping up the intensity with charcoal, ash, tar, sweet-smelling leather, pungent pipe tobacco, raisins, stewed plums, toasted marshmallows, and bitter apples with their skins. After the first explosion of flavour, the whisky settles down to reveal a dry, ashy core with mineral, coastal, and medicinal notes — typical Laphroaig.
Finish:
Ash and woodland puddles join a blast of delicious apples. Anise, apple, green grass, and a trace of riverbed dirt remain as the heavier flavours recede.
Comment:
It’s a robust Islay whisky Laphroaig that fulfils the brief. It’s not as rich as a ‘heavily sherried’ wine, but it’s intense and strong, with a lot of depth and complexity.
The Singlemalt. ph website now has Laphroaig whisky . On the website, you may discover more about Laphroaig.
