Twenty-six years is a long time for any whisky to sit in wood, but for a Laphroaig — a distillery that built its reputation on punching you square in the mouth with peat smoke — it's a statement. The Laphroaig 26 Year Old, released as the "Second Witch" in the Macbeth-themed Witches Series (Act Two), is the kind of bottle that makes you stop and think about what time actually does to spirit. At £677 and bottled at a healthy 49.5% ABV, this isn't an impulse buy. It's a considered one. And having spent time with it, I think it earns the price of admission.
Let's talk about what we know. This is a 26-year-old Islay single malt from one of the most iconic distilleries on the island, bottled at cask strength or near it. The fact that they've kept it at 49.5% rather than watering it down to 40 or 43% tells you they want you to experience this whisky with its full character intact. That's a decision I respect. With over two and a half decades in bourbon casks, you'd expect a serious conversation between the wood and that signature Laphroaig peat — and that's exactly what this bottle promises.
The Witches Series itself is a theatrical concept, drawing from Shakespeare's Macbeth, and the "Second Witch" designation gives this release a certain dark mystique. But strip away the marketing and what you've got is something genuinely rare: a Laphroaig that's been allowed to mature far beyond the distillery's standard range. At this age, the aggressive coastal peat that defines younger expressions typically softens and integrates with the vanilla and honey sweetness drawn from American oak. The result, in my experience, is a whisky that still knows where it came from but has learned some manners along the way.
Tasting Notes
I'm not going to fabricate specific tasting notes I can't verify — that's not how honest reviewing works. What I will say is that a 26-year-old Laphroaig matured in bourbon casks at this strength should deliver a compelling balance between old smoke, tropical fruit character that long-aged Islay malts often develop, and deep oak-driven complexity. If you know Laphroaig's house style — medicinal peat, brine, seaweed — expect a more refined, layered version of that DNA. The years in wood will have rounded the edges without erasing them entirely.
The Verdict
At 8.6 out of 10, this is a whisky I rate highly because of what it represents: patience, restraint in bottling strength, and the sheer quality of allowing Laphroaig's bold distillate to evolve over 26 years. The £677 price tag is steep, no question. But for a whisky of this age from this distillery, bottled without excessive dilution, it sits within a competitive range. You're paying for time, and time is the one thing money genuinely can buy in whisky. The Witches Series packaging adds collectability, but I'd buy this for what's inside the bottle. This is Laphroaig grown up — still Islay to its bones, but with a depth and sophistication that only comes from decades of quiet maturation in good wood.
Best Served
Neat, in a Glencairn glass, with nothing more than a few drops of room-temperature water if the 49.5% ABV needs opening up. This is absolutely not a mixing whisky. Give it fifteen minutes to breathe after pouring — aged Islay malts at this level reward patience in the glass just as much as they rewarded patience in the cask. If you want to explore the full range, try your first pour neat, then add water drop by drop on your second. You'll find different layers at different dilutions.
