Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 90 |
| Style |
Scotch Whiskey |
| Produced In | Scotland |
| ABV | 59.6% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $165.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-08-05 |
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 Single Malt Scotch Review Review
One of the quintessential Islay distilleries for peated Scotch, Laphroaig has long been known for its peated distillate and range of maturation methods. (Quarter Cask was one of the first peated single malts I ever spent time with.) The second release in the brand’s annual Element Series uses new fermentation techniques to highlight another, often overlooked component of the Laphroaig flavor wheel: fruit.
To be clear, “technique” may be a slight understatement; both time and technique were modified. For Elements 2.0, Laphroaig’s distilling team extended their normal 55-hour fermentation process. The whiskey for this release came from a series of extended fermentation batches that went up to nearly five full days (115 hours). During these longer fermentations, the mash tun was “specially aerated to maintain mash conditions, much like practices of old.”
According to Laphroaig, the resulting process “helps emphasize the fruitier notes of Laphroaig Islay single malt while maintaining its signature peaty character.” Indeed, Elements 2.0 packaging emphasizes how specific fruit flavors — orange and apple — tend to emerge in greater amounts only at 60 hours, beyond the distillery’s typical fermentation window.
I’ve often harped on about how decades of aging often dials back the smoky characteristic of peated single malt, replacing it with pronounced tropical fruit flavors. (To many a drinking companion’s annoyance, no doubt.) For this non-age stated release, Laphroaig is betting greater fermentation times can accomplish a similar outcome.
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 was aged fully in first fill bourbon casks. It was bottled at a robust, cask strength 119.2 proof. Let’s see how it tastes!
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 Single Malt Scotch: Stats and Availability
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 is available across the United States for a suggested retail price of $165 for a 700-milliliter bottle. It’s also available through a number of online retailers. Though this is technically an annual, limited release series (thus far), Laphroaig Elements 2.0 is both widely available and relatively easy to find for at or close to MSRP.
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 Single Malt Scotch Review
As with all of VinePair’s whisky reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
Noticeably light at first and with only a tiny kiss of ethanol, the nose certainly highlights those accented fruity characteristics. Baked apples and pears, fresh plums, and tart cherries emanate slowly from the glass, bringing a subtle interplay between sweet and sour fruit. It takes a few minutes, but extremely ripe banana also enters the fray.
The fruit is layered just over that familiar Laphroaig peat, which feels more like a passenger than driver on the nose. Notably, this non-age-stated release smells like some of the older (think 25+ year) Laphroaig releases I’ve sampled in the past, wherein the peat gets dialed way back while semi-tropical notes rise to the surface.
A marked difference here is the actual variety of those fruits: Elements 2.0 is heavier on nuanced baked fruits (apple, pear) instead of more tropical notes like pineapple, papaya, and guava.
Later on comes a note of classic crème caramel, thick and eggy with a pop of unrefined, scraped vanilla.
Taste
Salted caramel kicks things off on the palate before any fruit flavors can really settle. It’s almost equal parts sweet and saline, followed quickly by tart green apple. The handoff from salinity to tart apple (and perhaps some under ripe apricot) crafts a tasty and composed narrative. (An overly esoteric note, perhaps, but it reminds me of caramel-coated green apple lollipops I used to consume almost daily as a kid.)
The whisky drinks well below its 119.2 proof, and the relative lack of heat allows that sweetness and fruit to build almost unobstructed along the midpalate. Baking spice — cinnamon and freshly-grated nutmeg — also accumulate along the mid and back palates. While that tamed heat may preserve some flavors, at certain points, it also gives this single malt a withdrawn character that can make it difficult to engage with certain flavors. It’s tasty — borderline delicious in parts — but I can’t help but crave a bit more punch throughout.
As with the nose, peat is present though not terribly pronounced, closer to the spice and smoke from a sweet barbecue sauce than a campfire.
Finish
The finish taps back into salted caramel, sweetness gradually fading until only barrel sugars and a small wisp of peat smoke remains. I wouldn’t have minded more lingering fruit, but overall, the ending sticks things pretty well.
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 Single Malt Scotch Rating
90/100
Recap
Laphroaig Elements 2.0 sets out to create a fruitier distillate, and ultimately, that resulted in a light and fruit-forward Scotch. It maintains elements of classic Laphroaig peat, and even bottled at nearly 120 proof, it both noses and drinks like a much lighter spirit. There were points during the sip where I actually wanted to feel a greater impact from that proof. That said, the goal here was to highlight the impact of extended fermentation to create a fruitier flavor profile, and it certainly succeeded — the differences are what sets this series apart. Longtime Laphroaig drinkers will likely enjoy the experimentation, while the dialed-back smoke may help convert a few peated Scotch skeptics.
*Image retrieved from Suntory Global Spirits
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