Review #772 - Laphroaig Lore Re-Review

We're revisiting a whisky which was one of our earliest reviews: Laphroaig Lore. This premium single malt from Laphroaig doesn't carry an age statement, but it's a vatting of liquid between 7 and 21 years old; there are a variety of cask types included as well, including ex-bourbon, European oak, Oloroso sherry, and quarter casks.

In the UK, this bottle seems to sell for the equivalent of roughly $80 to $100, depending on where you buy it; here, in the US, the price jumps up to $130. That's asking a lot of a NAS whisky, even if there is theoretically some older stock included; let's see how this measures up.

Laphroaig Lore

Scotland/Islay - Single Malt

Price: USD 130 (2026)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 48% ABV

Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and quarter casks

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 5 times over 2 years; bottles at 50% (blind tasting), 40% (blind tasting), 30% (blind tasting), 20%, and 10% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: A decent amount of peat smoke and wood smoke, quite a bit of medicinal or iodine scents; lots of barbecue-like notes as well. Balsamic, red berries, a bit of dark fruit too, and a hint of creme brulee; sharper notes of burnt rubber, creosote, and inky sea notes build. There are hints of salt and seaweed with more time - good complexity.

Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness. Grilled jalapenos, sweet green peppers, a bit of charred wood, and medicinal peat greet us first; time brings brine, lemon-lime soda, and sharp stone fruit. There's a jammy red fruit (strawberry?) in the background, and the complexion grows darker - black licorice, wine gums, a little rubbery.

Finish: Strawberry and raspberry jam, lots of peat and wood char, some iodine and ash. It's inky and a bit closed up, and we get hints of pear, caramel, and green bell pepper in the aftertaste; it's a medium-long finish due to the peat.

Final Note: Across all of our tastings, we enjoyed the nose on this Laphroaig much more than the palate and finish. There's lots of nuance if you give this a lot of time, but the palate was a bit subtle, and the main flavor lingering into the finish is peat, with only mild notes of fruit and oak. Still, that nose gives a great range of scents: plenty of smoke, fruits, baking notes, and coastal notes mingle. Overall, it's a good whisky, just not quite in the 'great' category for us.

Value here in the US is below average due to the high price on this bottle; we think $80 to $100 would be more of a fair price for this whisky.

Our Rating: 7.3 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.72

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.