90
score
whiskyfun.com
December 25, 2010
The bottlings that were imported by Bonfanti in the 1970s are now legendary while the ‘Cinzano’ versions from the 1980s were excellent as well. This one is a very rare ‘Filippi’, that is to say a 10 that was imported even before the Bonfanti era. Colour: gold. Nose: no wham-bam nose, no peat burst and no avalanche of tropical fruits, rather a very delicate, almost whispering combination of make-up remover, almond oil and old limoncello (it’s Italian, eh!) It’s very long to take off, with small floral notes popping up at times (lilies, patchouli), whiffs of high-end oolong tea, a very faint mustiness, maybe traces of linseed oil, more fresh almonds… We’ve finally quite some maritime notes but delicate ones, such as fresh clams (yes, better fresh), maybe winkles… It’s only after five minutes or so that some more defined peaty notes emerge but of course, it’s no peat monster anymore. Nutshell: delicate and whispering old Laphroaig. This should be bad news for the palate, unless… Mouth: okay, it is not tired, not at all, and the amount of peat in such an old bottle is quite surprising. The saltiness is really big (anchovies, brine) and doesn’t stop getting bigger while other components have to fight their way onto your palate. Do I seem to detect passion fruits? Earl grey tea? Almond oil again? Smoked tea? I seems that it’s not the most delicate old Laphroaig ever on the palate (while it may have been on the nose) but it’s still beautiful. And so powerful after more than 40 years in glass! Finish: rather long, very salty and almondy, with touches of grapefruits and a little wax. Comments: I must say this is a surprise. Not as much to my liking as the miraculous Bonfantis but still superb. Now, did they use seawater to reduce the whiskies prior bottling at the time?
