A vatting of five similar but also slightly complementary casks from the same vintage presents us with a milestone Laphroaig, a perfect example of the style from this distillery. Bottled at a higher than usual ABV to preserve its rugged character, it has all the trademark flavours of an intense Islay whisky at the age in which the oak has just started to mellow out the fire… but not too much yet. Very hot, ashy, sooty, extremely smoky, and with a moderate amount of backing sweetness from the malt, plus all sorts of green leaves and seaweed, liquorice and a slight touch of rubber too. A great coastal whisky, the last in a long tradition of excellent peated bottlings from Wilson & Morgan.