Green Aisles – Laphroaig Cask Lore

A friend recommended the Laphroaig Lore years ago. Yet, I only managed to review it just now. Obviously, this new The Cask Lore version is a single malt for sipping neat. However, I could not resist coming up with a cocktail recipe anyway.

The new Laphroaig The Cask Lore combines five different cask types. While in the old bottling, the youngest whisky was eight-years-old, in the current one the youngest whisky has an age of seven years. Apart from that, now the casks are a combination of bourbon, European oak and oloroso sherry casks. Some quarter casks are also in the mix. The Lore Cask has an ABV of 48 %.

Comparison with the old one

I had a sample of the Laphroaig Lore lying around, so I did a blind tasting between the old and the new version. Surprisingly, I favoured the new one. It was complex with peat smoke, maritime notes as well as sherry fruit and vanilla. After the initial smoke settled, the whisky was surprisingly drinkable for the higher ABV. It definitely was my favourite Laphroaig in a long time.

Starting with a Black Manhattan

The Black Manhattan was the starting point for the recipe using the Laphroaig The Lore Cask. Yet, I also wanted to add something ‘green’ and went for the Engel Green Mandarin Eau de Vie. Since I do favour my Black Manhattans with at least a bit of vermouth I also used my regular sweet vermouth blend. Lastly, I threw in a few Dashes of Chartreuse Elixir Vegetal.

**Mix 50 % Mancino Vermouth Rosso, 40 % Yzaguierre Reserve and 10 % Mancino Chinato.

I don’t want to praise myself, but, the ‘Green Aisles’ was one of the best drinks I created in the last couple of months. I especially like the combination of peat smoke with the Amaro and citrus notes. The Chartreuse Elixir Vegetal worked great with the Amaro and the vermouth and added to the herbal complexity.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The whisky was provided by Beam Suntory.