Part two of the NEW WORLD ORDER of Islay malts. No more paying a ridiculous premium for peated malt. We’re back in the driver’s seat when it comes to killer casks at amazing prices in Scotland these days, all thanks to the incredible work done by our various independent bottlers, and especially the team at Dornoch Distillery, who bottle under the Thompson Bros label. For the US, thanks to some friendly cease and desist letters, the brand is known as Redacted Bros and continues to deliver the coolest casks at the best prices across all of our bottlers. Here we have a specially selected barrel of Laphroaig, which the brothers felt worthy to be adorned with the Dornoch Castle Hotel label. It was, after all, this wonderful, quirky hotel that first put the brothers and their exceptional whisky bar on our radar. It was the brothers, their wild little shed-based distillery, and maybe a really nice golf course that put Dornoch on the map. So they’ve picked last year’s best casks and reserved them for this limited edition label featuring the hotel. This winter Laphroaig is of the highest order. Let’s have a go. The color is the requisite pale gold (0.3). The nose is dense, a pillow of black clouds of smoke, sweet leather, pine fire, sappy salty resin, camphor, roasted pineapple, lemon and chili oil, even sardines. I’m being a bit dramatic, but it’s such an effusive, lovely style I can’t get enough. On the palate, the dark smoke persists, but we also have salted dried fruits, subtle iodine, limestone, lanolin, and wet wool. With water, the smoke tempers and the sweetness comes through a bit more, but I prefer this at full strength even in its youth. A ridiculously good and classic winter Laphroaig of the highest order. Price equals just dumb.