Have Laphroaig turned down the phenol over the years? Alternatively my taste has changed. I used to find standard Laph. very phenolic, I didn't much like it, but it was very distinctive. It remains the only whisky I could identify blind on nose alone. 18 year old Laph was excessively phenolic and I actively disliked it. These days I find the standard less distinctive. The phenol is still there but is not as strident as it was 20 years ago.