Laphroaig Quarter Cask Scotch Whisky
48% ABV (96 proof) | 750mL | No age statement | Double-matured Islay single malt | Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland — Laphroaig Quarter Cask takes the distillery's famously medicinal, peaty spirit and gives it a second maturation in small quarter casks — about 125 litres, a quarter the size of a standard barrel, with roughly 30% more wood contact. The extra wood softens the peat's edges and layers on coconut, banana, and vanilla sweetness, reviving a 19th-century tradition from when spirit traveled by horse and cart in small casks. Non-chill-filtered, bottled at 48%. Available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.
Laphroaig has stood on the southern coast of Islay since 1815, and it remains one of the few Scottish distilleries still doing its own floor maltings over Islay peat fires — the source of that unmistakable iodine-and-seaweed character. The Quarter Cask is the peat-lover's Laphroaig turned up: the standard 10-year-old's medicinal punch, made rounder and sweeter by small-cask finishing. Among Islay single malts, it's the classic "second bottle" after the 10.
Tasting notes
Nose: peat smoke, iodine, seaweed, vanilla. Palate: medicinal peat and bonfire smoke wrapped in coconut, banana, and creamy vanilla from the quarter casks. Finish: long — smoke, oak spice, sweet malt.
Why buy it from Del Mesa Liquor
- 48% ABV (96 proof) — non-chill-filtered, double-matured
- Finished in ~125L quarter casks — ~30% more wood contact
- The classic Islay peat, softened and sweetened by small-cask oak
- From Laphroaig Distillery, Port Ellen, Islay (est. 1815)
- Available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor
How to serve it
Neat with a teaspoon of water to open the smoke — or as the smoky backbone of a Penicillin cocktail.
Frequently asked questions
What is a quarter cask?
A small cask of about 125 litres — roughly a quarter the size of a standard barrel — giving the whisky more wood contact and a sweeter, oakier profile.
Is Laphroaig Quarter Cask peated?
Yes — it's classic heavily peated Islay single malt, with the peat softened by the quarter-cask finish.
Does it have an age statement?
No — it's a no-age-statement whisky, double-matured in ex-bourbon barrels then quarter casks.
Where is Laphroaig made?
Port Ellen, on the southern coast of Islay, Scotland — the distillery was founded in 1815.