Travel Retail Exclusive Whisky - Any Good?

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Next week I am off for a 2 week holiday to Egypt which means that the dirnks on offer at the hotel will be poor or eye-wateringly expensive (£10 for a shot of Johny Walker red ). This means that if I want to enjoy a few drams on holiday I will need to purchase a bottle at the airport form World Duty Free...

I have noticed that the majority of whiskies on offer are 1L "Retail Trave Exclusives" - does anyone know if they are any good? Most of them are No Age Statement and expensive. Are they sub-standard whiskies that are being sold to customers that have no other choice?

Last year I bought a bottle of Talisker Dark Storm - which was quite good, but IMHO not a patch on the standard Talisker 10 and cost lot more.

This time I am tempted by Laphroig PX Cask (£69.99 for 1L) - does anyone know if it is any good or can someine recommend a decent dram from World Duty Free.

[Robbidoo]

The travel exclusive bit is just the size of the bottle - booze in the UK is sold in 700ml bottles, the 1L is the exclusive bit.

Laphroaig is a great whiskey but very peaty which isn't for everyone - you can look at tasting notes on a site like this: http://www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/laphroaig.htm

[Robbidoo]

Lots of good reviews on it here: https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/28699/laphroai...

[sgrimshaw]

In case you're not aware, you can buy duty free on arrival in Egypt or within 48 hrs of arrival at duty free shops in town.

You'll need to check current limits, but it used to be another 3 litres of spirits(in addition to the litre you can fly in with).

[Gribs]

I've got a bottle of the PX cask and it's very good compared to the normal 10 but only a slight improvement on the quarter cask. Laphroaig generally seems much better to me when it's bottled at a higher abv as the cask strength 10 is great.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Thanks for the advice - I am a big fan of the Laphroaig Quarter Cask and it is my understanding that the PX cask is quater cask whisky with an extra finish in PX barrels - so should be slightly sweeter due to the sherry finish.

I am very tempted by it, but it is a lot more than Quarter Cask; I am also tempted to get a standard 70Cl bottle of Lagavulin and a standard 70Cl bottle of Cardhu gold which is almost the same price. (not sure I can drink that much whisky in 2 weeks so may end up bringing some back with me).

[Sy1441]

Have a couple of The Dalmore travel exclusives, the Valour looks and tastes suspiciously like the 12 year old.