This duo shows how ridiculous the whole ‘secret distillery’ trend can become.
Abyss Whisky Bar in Hong Kong bottled two Islay Single Malts from 1993. One could legally be bottled as Laphroaig, the other had to be named a Secret Islay Malt. Only after assessing the samples separately (and buying the casks from different sources) they turned out to be sister casks of each other.
Laphroaig 31 yo 1993 (52,4%, Abyss Whisky Bar + Whiskylovers HK ‘Synergy Collection’ 2024, bourbon barrel #4406887, 109 btl.)
Nose: the peat kept quite a lot of its power. Lots of iodine, herbal ointments and whiffs of camphor. Then eucalyptus oil, old leather, warm beach sand and vegetal oils. Just a touch of charcoal. There are some blossomy notes underneath, as well as hints of lime peels and subtle tropical fruits. Promising.
Mouth: quite bold and tight, in a nice way. Lots of medicinal notes, lemon zests, hints of pine needles and mercurochrome. A little green tea, as well as herbal tea. Plenty of bright citrus notes, along with the lightest vanilla, but not the tropical fruits that we get in 1989/1990 casks. Ashes running through.
Finish: very long, with green tea, subtle blossomy notes, pepper, bitter almond and coastal notes.
Immaculate Laphroaig, with the focused and slightly austere side we expected. Maritime power! This could easily have been an official 30 year old.
An Islay Distillery 30 yo 1993 (52,7%, Abyss Whisky Bar + Aqua Vitae ‘Synergy Collection’ 2024, bourbon barrel #4406888, 140 btl.)
Nose: very similar, of course, but a slightly flatter start, with less fruits underneath. Maybe just a tad more oak influence too. Other than that, still very nice medicinal notes, some gooseberries, tobacco leaves and lots of ashes. Also bandages, chalk and black olives.
Mouth: very vibrant. The combination of brine, herbal notes and citrus works wonders. There’s also a mild sweetness that balances it out. Then crushed seashells, some grapefruit, black pepper and light resins. Sharp lemons and herbal notes too.
Finish: very long, with the same combination of brine, sharp pepper and subtle bitterness.
On the nose I had a slight preference towards the other cask, and this impression didn’t change much. On the palate they’re more similar though, on another occasion the score may be the other way round. Score: 90/100