Head to head · same category, comparable price
Laphroaig 10 Year Old vs Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Same distillery, so the choice is wood, age and strength rather than character.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Laphroaig 10 Year Old | Laphroaig Quarter Cask | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Islay, Scotland |
| Age | 10 years | No age statement |
| Strength | 40% ABV | 48% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon barrel | Ex-bourbon barrel, American oak quarter cask |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £45 | £44 |
| Per 10cl | £6.43 | £6.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £161 | £131 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both distilled at the same distillery, so house style is held constant.
Laphroaig 10 Year Old states 10 years; Laphroaig Quarter Cask states none.
Shared base of ex-bourbon barrel. Laphroaig Quarter Cask adds american oak quarter cask.
Neither states chill filtration.
Neither set of specifications is producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Laphroaig 10 Year Old is £1.00 dearer a bottle than Laphroaig Quarter Cask.
Strength keeps that ordering: £131 a litre of pure alcohol for Laphroaig Quarter Cask against £161.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Laphroaig 10 Year Old is 21st cheapest and Laphroaig Quarter Cask 12th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Laphroaig 10 Year Old | Laphroaig Quarter Cask |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 9 | 9 |
| Sweet | 2 | 4 |
| Fruity | 2 | 3 |
| Spicy | 4 | 6 |
| Woody | 4 | 6 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 8 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sweet, 2 against 4.
Identical on peaty, sherried and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Laphroaig 10 Year Old
Medicinal, seaweed and ash. The most divisive dram in mainstream whisky.
Full record →Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Laphroaig with the volume up — more oak, more sweetness, considerably more grip at 48%.
Double matured: standard ex-bourbon barrels, then re-racked into smaller quarter casks whose greater wood-to-spirit surface area speeds maturation. Laphroaig publishes no ABV, and one UK retailer lists 41.4% — that is a data error; 48% is confirmed by two independent retailers.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Laphroaig 10 Year Old for testing whether you like peat at all, Laphroaig Quarter Cask for value at 48% and peat lovers.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Laphroaig 10 Year Old and Laphroaig Quarter Cask: laphroaig.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.