Laphroaig “Cairdeas” Port Wood Edition
The”Cairdeas” (meaning friendship in Gaelic) is a special product from Laphroaig that is unique to each bottling, and meant as a token of thanks by the distillery to its many supporters. And, let’s be honest, another good way to sell the whisky and make some money. It is also a No Age Statement (NAS) whisky, which allows the distillery to give a broad variation in taste each year. The bottle for this review was the 2013 release, the Port Wood Edition.
Kilchoman “Machir Bay”
Kilchoman (pronounced Kilhoman) is one of the newest and smallest distilleries in Scotland, opening its doors in 2005. It currently produces a 3 and 5 year single malt, though they plan to release 8 year (2014), 10 year (2016) and 12 year (2018) bottlings. By what we taste from the junior varsity so far, age should make a good thing even better for Kilchoman’s future issues. The offerings are bottled yearly, quantified by flavor profile and maturation. Future releases of the Machir Bay (and others) will be re-released in more mature versions.
Ledaig 10 Year
The only peated whisky on the Isle of Mull, the Ledaig 10 was a Gold Medal winner at the 2008 International Wine and Spirits Competition. Does it have what it takes to compete with it’s island brethren like the Tobermory 10 Year?