Review #127: Sovereign Laphroaig Single Cask Whiskey Review
The Sovereign is a sub-brand of the venerable Hunter Liang. I think they originally set it up to start bottling single grain whiskies, but then expanded it to use for some older single malts as well. We tried a few of their single grain line, and I found it best summed up that age and price don’t make a great whiskey. If you’re going to age something for 3, 4, or 5 decades, losing a few percent every year, and selling it at the end for several hundred (or thousand) dollars, do yourself a favor and start with malt instead of grain whiskey!
Anywho, we’re hearing today to talk about Laphroaig which is of course a single malt whiskey. This one was aged for 20 years in a refill hogshead, and bottled at cask strength (52.5%) with natural color, and no chill filtration (hats off fine gentlemen).
Sovereign Laphroaig Single Cask Whiskey Review
Tasting Notes
Nose: Lots of bourbon notes, vanilla, oak, salt spray, iodine and peat.
Palate: Really punchy from the start, oak, caramel, lots of smoke here, but it’s subdued and muted. Lemon juice and citrus at the end of the palate.
Finish: relatively short finish.
Quick overview of our scoring system
Additional Information
- ABVs: 52.5%
- Non-chill filtered
- Natural color.
- Distilled October 1997, bottled May 2018.
About Laphroaig
- Originally established in 1815, but there was illicit distilling onsite before.
- Laphroaig is famous (and some say infamous) for their seaweed, hospital-on-fire, hyper-iodine flavors.
- Laphroaig is as much defined by the place as any French wine; the distillery sits meters away from the sea, and the iodine rich seaweed coats the narrow beach adjoining the warehouse.
- What to make with Laphroaig.
- Distillery tours and reviews.