No shortage of good Laphroaig. This Laphroaig 1990 was released by The Whisky Agency as a joint bottling with Dutch distributor Bresser & Timmer. Easily found on Dutch websites such as Whiskysite.nl.

Laphroaig 20 yo 1990 (56,3%, The Whisky Agency ‘Perfect Dram’ with Bresser & Timmer 2011, ex-bourbon, 237 btl.)

Nose: quite peaty and smokey, exceptionally high on maritime notes (seaweed, smoked fish). Antiseptic notes. Some wax / fat. Wet gravel and mineral notes. Quite dry and grassy, the expected lemon juice and almonds are present, as well as some banana, but the dominating layer is certainly the maritime smokiness. Intense. Mouth: assertive, oily and coastal. Big smoke with lemon, evolving to drier lemon zest. Salted fish. Sweet almonds and other nutty flavours. Hints of burnt grass and seaweed again. Finish: very long and deeply smoky / peaty. Getting even drier, with liquorice notes.

A very big and maritime Laphroaig. Smoky, powerful and flawless. What’s not to like? Around € 120.

Score: 88/100