REDACTED BROS BLENDED MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
Islay scotch distilled in Sept 2010, aged in a refill sherry butt, bottled in Dec 2022MASH BILL – Unstated “blend” (wink wink)
PROOF – 100
AGE – 12 years
DISTILLERY – Bottled by Thompson Bros / Dornoch Distillery Co. (sourcing from Laphroaig according to K&L.)
PRICE – $120
WORTH BUYING? – Yes!
Uncorked and tasted in The Year of No Buying (The what? 🔗 here.)
I’ve written about my curious journey with Laphroaig a few times now—here, here and here for example. In short, I’m generally a fan of peated scotch. But Laphroaig’s tendency toward medicinal and diesel notes has for the most part not appealed to me.
With another Redacted Bros offering, a 29-year single barrel, time had mellowed that infamous Laphroaig intensity a bit. But still I found it just okay—and, even at the Redacted Bros’ relatively reasonable pricing, very expensive for something “just okay.”
By contrast, and to my surprise, I enjoyed Laphroaig’s own Sherry Oak Cask release quite a lot. The sherry managed to tame the peat’s unappealing qualities and render something balanced, sweet, subtle and dark. I went through that bottle quickly. So it occurred to me that sherry cask aging and finishing might be key to my ability to enjoy Laphroaig’s unique vigor.
So when I saw this latest sherry-aged Redacted Bros Williamson Blended Malt Scotch go on sale at K&L, I jumped on it. The good people at Thompson/Dornoch, who produce under this “Redacted Bros” label, are contractually obliged to withhold the source of this whisky. But hardcore Laphroaig fans will recognize the packaging’s unsubtle nod to an old style Laphroaig label design, with its block letters, cursive small print, and black-and-white simplicity.
Filled into a used sherry butt in 2010, then transferred to Dornach and bottled at 100 proof without added color or chill filtering, it’s a “blended” whisky because a teaspoon of something else was added to it, negating its single malt status. This teaspooning trick is a longstanding method by which larger distilleries protect their single malt brand name while making money selling off excess barrels to independent bottlers like Thompson/Dornoch. It also benefits the consumer, since single malts go for higher prices than blends.
So although yes, technically it’s a blend, in practicality what we’re sipping here is Laphroaig single malt whisky, aged a nice round 12 years. And though it’s not been left at full cask strength, as is often done by independent bottlers, 100 proof is no cause for disappointment. Most Laphroaig-direct releases are bottled in the 80 and 90 proof ranges.
So let’s try it! Here we are, eleven days after uncorking and three pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – gentle lemon and honey yellows
NOSE – very round and balanced, at once woodsy and maritime, with strong yet soft smoke, peat, salty sea air, baked red fruits, custard, cream, subtle milk chocolate, subtle campfire ash, weathered oak
TASTE – soft ashy campfire wood, custard, caramel, cream, subtle dark red baked fruit, baked peach and nectarine, honeydew melon, milk chocolate
FINISH – the ashy campfire logs, dry lingering smoke, a bit of custard and milk chocolate, a very faint and thin layer of the baked fruit notes, the honeydew melon
OVERALL – lovely like a picnic in a woodland forest near the ocean on a day when the weather is indecisive between drizzly and sunny
I really enjoy this. The emphasis on ashy campfire is so strong and prevalent, and yet somehow cozy like a good campfire should be. The whisky’s warmth cuts through the alternately sunny and drizzly chill.
All the candy and fruit notes are far subtler than the peat, ash, smoke and wood. But they’re present enough to provide balance, an easy richness, a unified whole in which the parts are neither equal nor in conflict.
And no Laphroaig band-aides or diesel fumes!
If I was still a bunkering whisky fan, I’d be bunkering at least one maybe two more of these. For the specs, the price is acceptable. I’d like it better under three digits. But the overall quality on offer here is undeniable, and worth at least one journey with this bottle. It’s that uncanny balance between strength and ease. Some might still find it overpowering. But for any peat fan, I think a pour from this bottle will qualify as a perfect winter’s day.
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 