Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength
The 10 Years as it comes from the cask: undiluted and bottled at cask strength, 58.6%. Peat, seaweed and smoke at full strength, with honey, sea salt and coffee. You decide with water how strong it becomes.
The 10 Years without added water
Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength is the same ten-year-old whisky as the 10 Years, but without water being added before bottling. It matures in ex-bourbon casks and goes into the bottle undiluted, at its natural cask strength. Laphroaig calls it the authentic way to experience the distillery's rugged character: with the depth you otherwise encounter only in a cask sample.
That makes a big difference compared with the 10 Years at 40%. The texture is thicker and oilier, the flavors are more concentrated, and you decide for yourself how much to dilute it. This bottle is at 58.6%; because the percentage depends on the cask, it may vary slightly by batch.
In brief
Classic Laphroaig, but amplified
Peat and sea
Neat, it's primarily alcohol and peat smoke. With water, it opens up into rich peat smoke with sweetness and strong maritime notes.
Full-bodied and oily
Peat, seaweed and smoke at full strength, with honey, sea salt, coffee and spices. Thick and powerful on the tongue.
Pronounced and long-lasting
Pronounced, full-bodied and long-lasting, with smoke and salt lingering for minutes.
Flavor profile of Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength with a splash of water. Neat, the intensity is even higher and the sweetness is harder to find.
Water to taste: how to taste cask strength
At 58.6%, water isn't dilution but a tool. Add it little by little, preferably with a pipette, and taste as you go.
Step by step with a pipette
Pour 20 ml into a tulip-shaped tasting glass and take a small sip neat. Then add five drops of water, taste, and repeat. At around one-third water, it drops to about 40%, and you can taste the honey and sea salt more clearly.
Glass: tasting glass →Next to the 10 Years
Dilute 15 ml of Cask Strength with about 7 ml of water and place it next to 20 ml of regular 10 Years. You can taste how much fuller and oilier the same whisky remains without extra water.
About the 10 Years →A few drops as a float
Make a Penicillin with blended Scotch and, at the end, float 5 ml of Cask Strength over a bar spoon. Because of its strength, half a regular float is already enough.
Penicillin recipe →Cocktails where a few drops are enough
Cask Strength is too powerful to use as a base, but as a rinse or float, it delivers a lot of smoke with very little.
Penicillin
Blended Scotch, lemon, honey, and ginger, topped with 5 ml Cask Strength.
Smoky Sazerac
Rinse the glass with Cask Strength instead of absinthe. A cloud of peat smoke above the rye.
Smoky highball
25 ml Cask Strength with 150 ml sparkling water over plenty of ice. The water does what the pipette would otherwise do.
Whisky cocktails
All whisky cocktails in one place, from Whiskey Sour to Rusty Nail.The right glass for Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength
A tulip-shaped tasting glass is almost essential here: the narrow opening captures the aromas, and you can clearly see how much water you add. Use a tumbler for the float and a tall glass for the highball.
More Laphroaig flavors
Laphroaig
Where it began. On the brand page, you can read all about Laphroaig: its origins, varieties, and classic cocktails.
To Laphroaig →
Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Small casks add toffee, vanilla and coconut alongside the smoke. Fuller and sweeter than the 10 Years.
View Laphroaig Quarter Cask →
Laphroaig Select
Smoky yet balanced thanks to five cask types, including sherry. The most approachable introduction to Laphroaig and great in cocktails.
View Laphroaig Select →
Laphroaig Lore
Whiskies aged from seven to twenty-one years in oloroso sherry casks and quarter casks. Rich and smoky, with an almost endlessly long finish.
View Laphroaig Lore →
Laphroaig 10 Sherry Oak
The 10 Years with an additional maturation in oloroso sherry casks. Dried fruit and toffee alongside the smoke.
View Laphroaig 10 Sherry Oak →Everything about whisky: the types, the best-known brands and the cocktails.
Questions about Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength
Can’t find your question here? Read more on the Laphroaig page or browse our cocktail recipes.
Everything about Laphroaig →