The iconic Islay producer has long been a darling of the Scotch loving world. There are fewer and fewer people out there who turn their nose up at the wildly peaty style that comes of the special distills at Laphroaig. Not only are they one of the few distillers to use their own malt, which is part of what many attribute to the unique flavors of their spirit, they use a complex regime of seven stills to create a completely unique malt. While sherried Laphroaig is renowned historically, they rarely fill it into sherry butts. It's a real treat if they can pull it off properly. Let's have a taste. The color is amber/deep gold. OH THANK GOD! They haven't total neutered the fires of Islay with these sherry butts. It's right smokey with plenty of oily smoke and sweet peat wafting from the glass. The sherry has drawn it slightly towards the BBQ flavors and away from the high pitched medicinal flavors, which only the very pickiest Laphroaig lover will lament. Lots of roasted flavors - roasted wood, roasted earth, roasted meat, toasted pepper, roasted brush, ashy smoke. On the palate, its unctuous and mouth coating, thanks most definitely to the higher than normal proof, bold and not at all unabashed with the sweetness of the sherry, it's nutty frame, just slightly taming the gamey peat character. We always worry that with these NAS bottlings they'll try to sneak in some "under-mature" casks, but this feels extremely well composed and dare I say "older." This is an absolutely perfectly executed expression, that offers so much enjoyment and complexity while slightly opening the door to those who might be otherwise afraid to dive into the South Shore smokies.